Kristina is a multimedia artist from the Philadelphia suburbs. She holds an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Art from Colby College. Outside of her studio practice, she teaches short courses and workshops in various media and runs a small silversmithing business called Meal Ticket Jewelry.
In my work, I consider the anxiety and trauma that strict gender norms imposed on me and the women that came before me. Using objects imbued with gender expectations of previous generations, I combine those materials with artistic and craft practices that reside in what society considers a masculine sphere, attempting to capture my own place within the binary. Simultaneously called to and entrapped by the topic of gender and femininity in my work, I seek to question what we expect of women-identifying artists as well as the consequences of building our artistic history on the accomplishments of men. The use of vintage textiles and craft techniques in my work is meant to highlight this narrative by maintaining connection to my femme ancestors through their materials and by creating objects that sit somewhere between the practices of fine art and craft. I often use subtle humor to highlight the absurdities that the gender binary creates, with daily practice and data collection acting as ritual media that allow me to understand and convey what is lost when women’s voices are ignored.