Artist
Kristen Guest
I'm a landscape lover pulling inspiration from regional areas and nature for my creative choices; translating the beauty and atmospheric feeling of these places into marks, color, and texture that often result in dramatic shapes, gestural lines, and visual tension.
Though I use reference photos that I’ve taken from my travels for inspiration in the studio, I don't always focus on creating a loose rendition of a photo. Sometimes I will instead deconstruct the image in a very abstract way and infuse my painting with the feeling or ‘mood’ of these places, creating a comforting familiarity or nostalgia for viewers who have also visited and escaped to these iconic destinations.
Most of my travels take me to two regions that couldn’t be more opposite: the SoCal desert and Hawaii. Aside from their differences, they have one alluring thing in common: time has a way of standing still and you find yourself getting lost in your surroundings. It’s that feeling of being away on vacation—relaxing, wandering, exploring, indulging—that I enjoy “bottling up” into my work.
– Kristen Guest