I love to paint! I am an abstract thinker, and my artwork presents ideas, emotions, and events, using whatever style I feel is best to achieve the communication viscerally.
When
I am completely in tune with my work, it becomes as meditative as a long walk
through trees in snow. I remember the moment of each color wash upon wood grain,
or the sound of each brushstroke, feathery or rasping upon canvas. At these
times, the act of painting becomes a dance, a song, through which I come to express
something I understood intensely in a moment but for which I had no words to
express properly to someone else.
I aim to give the
viewer an intuition of that experience and moment through my painting, in a way
similar to how we may recall fragments from a dream, that leaves us with the
overall feeling and intent, and words are not necessary to understand it. I also aim to imbue the viewer of this, our mutual gift of visual language, to powerfully name our realms of experience to ourselves and each other.
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Kristina Pardue was born in Boulder, Colorado, receiving a BA from the
University of Virginia with concentrations in printmaking and sculpture, and a
BFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. With 30 years experience
in the field of painting, she specializes in oil, ink, and water-based paints,
using a wide variety of approaches, including abstraction and fine-line
drawing. She has shown her paintings extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area,
including at Fort Mason, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Diego Rivera
Gallery. In 2000, she presented her work in a video exchange between Bay Area
artists and Maori artists of New Zealand as part of Te Atinga's Te Ra Festival
at Toihoukura in Gisborne, New Zealand.
Commissioned work includes a 14-foot oil mural in the home of the Dean
of the Philosophy Department, University of Virginia, through Heartwood
Corporation, and an al seco panel for Joni Russell in Albany, CA, in
collaboration with Daryl M. Rush Builders. Her paintings and sculptures are
held in many private collections, including that of a Navy SEALS Special Boat
Commander, of international sound art composer, Guillermo Galindo, and of
tattoo artist, author, and curator Don Ed Hardy. Recently, the Hotel Del
Coronado in Coronado, California purchased the painting "Scrimshaw"
to hang in its newly renovated dining facilities.
Since moving to Santa
Fe in 2005, Pardue has become more involved in film work-- producing, writing,
acting in her own short films, while also working as actress and editor on
music video collaborations with other artists. One of these collaborations
resulted in being named a Finalist for New Mexico Music Video of The Year for
“Satan’s Bride,” music by Gregg Turner. In addition, Pardue has illustrated the
covers for several music CDs, and painted animation for “Fiji Mermaid”, a film
by Russell U Richards. In the past few years, she has taught painting workshops
for elementary age children and participated in several group shows through the
Tarnoff Art Center, serving the rural communities of Pecos and Rowe, New
Mexico. Pardue is an active member of the local art group, Inspiration Squad,
and has participated in La Pocha Nostra satellite performance workshops in the
Santa Fe area.
