Art:

The ability to control what cannot be controlled has been an underlying theme in my work since graduate school. Reflecting on my life over the past ten years, I can easily spot the difficult times: the end of a ten-year relationship, coming out in my mid-thirties, being rejected by the community I called home for my whole life, moving far away from that home, starting a new career, and then starting another new career three years later. My need to control something/anything during those times when I didn’t know what to expect next in life has become a coping mechanism. 

My work has evolved from articulating the terror-filled beauty of a hurricane to meticulously drawn accounts of coastal surface textures such as the sea’s surface, piles of shells washed up from the waves, and textures from weathered driftwood. These textures are built through many layers abstracting the original image and concentrating on mark making. I’m asking viewers to view something they perceive as tangible, but through the lens of intangibility. The tiny marks and details in my line work is an attempt to capture that moment when I felt safe and in control.

Me:

I’ve lived in Savannah, GA for the last six years where I teach in the Foundation Studies Department at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). While my love for the ocean continues to inspire my artwork, I am fully immersed in my role as a full-time Foundation Studies professor at SCAD, and the Foundations Studies Exhibitions Committee Lead. During my school breaks I make a point to travel anywhere and everywhere to always be inspired. Last year I traveled the markets and desserts of Morocco and the rocky coastlines of Acadia National Park in Maine. This year, it will be Machu Picchu in Peru and the Cape Cod National Seashore. 

kristindraws@gmail.com