Kristen Schiele, b. 1970

Kristen Schiele creates bold, immersive, and semi-abstract paintings, collages, and installations. She is inspired by stage sets, cinema, allegory and storytelling that is theatrical and playful. Most comfortable at large-scale, she combines materials, techniques, and images in her canvases, which are often anchored by architectural settings. Working in series, and focusing primarily on painting, she begins by collaging together sketches and images from her extensive library. Inspired by these actors, sets and objects, she imbues them with narrative tension. A sense of a storyline—dreamlike, fragmented—runs throughout all of Schiele’s work, reflecting her view of art as a form of dialogue.