This original oil painting was the first experiment with scaling-up using a new painting technique and process. Kristina’s interest in figurative painting continues to permeate this new body of work that investigates a veiled universe where figures find themselves in mysterious circumstances. The people are present, but disappearing. Their world is spatial, but described through gestural painterly brushstrokes that don’t reveal specifics. Their universe is shifting and melding, mediated by the presence of a vertically-ruled pattern that distorts spatial and optical perception. When seen together in context, it starts to become clear that these ethereal figures may belong to another realm entirely. They are passing through a threshold, be it emotional, physical, or spiritual, and depict a transition from one phase to the next. They reject the suffering of the physical world, yet succumb to the temptations of its hedonism. In this place, we receive more questions than answers.

Oil on panel, 24” x 18”, 2021.