Kristy Lee is a contemporary and colorful abstract artist based in Orlando, Florida with an international presence. Through my art, I am experiencing a metamorphosis in challenging myself through the creation of larger works, experimentation with media and pushing the boundaries of what I can create. This takes pushing myself to take risks as a part of my art making process. In this phase of my life, my practice in the studio allows me the freedom to leave a bit of my past self behind which was a nurturer as a mother. Now with children grown and on their own, I can nurture my newer self as a full-time artist.

The transition has been difficult but intuitive in that the work flows out naturally but is also a struggle. This is a part of my internal narrative which is constant fluctuation as I redefine myself. Being an artist and a mother is not a rigid identity, but rather is an intricate intersection of both. These juxtapositions are a perpetual element in my work. I explore the balance between objectivity and subjectivity, control and chaos, realism and abstraction, individualism and archetypes. Inspired by the abstract expressionists, I translate a particular state of emotion on canvas through subconscious creation. My intention is for these large-scale paintings to fill one’s vision and imagination with peripherals, momentarily removing the viewer from the physical world as they enter a state driven by color and emotions.

My approach to art is an approach to life – full of transitions, contradictions, experiments, disruptions, and conversations to encourage scrutiny of one’s environment, cultural standards of beauty, and natural creativity. I am inspired by Jenny Saville who said, “I do hope I play out the contradictions that I feel, all the anxieties and dilemmas. If they’re there in the work, then that’s brilliant.”
In considering what this means for me, it is about balancing the contradictions in art as influenced by life. My hope is that the viewer will experience my inner passion and relate to the work on a personal level.