Forster Arts Complex, Dennis Gallery: November 11, 2024 - January 24, 2025

Injected Joy
Archival inkjet prints
2024

I recently saw a headline reading “‘Woke’ people more likely to be unhappy, anxious and depressed, new study suggests.” Later I saw the same headline made into a bunch of memes that boiled down to “educated people have more informed concerns!” Woke or not, it’s hard to live nowadays and not be affected by the state of society. Sometimes it really feels like it is crumbling: women’s reproductive rights being taken away, trans people’s lives under attack, wanna-be dictators on the ballot, and the list goes on.

This series of photographs is a response, albeit a tongue in cheek response, to the depression and angst that comes from bearing witness. I like toying with the idea of enforced joy. Sometimes joy does not come naturally. What if it could be medically injected or ingested or just forced inside? I also really love using glitter and sugar in work which, at its core, is about sadness.

This work was created at the Jentel Artist Residency Program. Jentel is located in a rural setting on a working cattle ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley approximately 20 miles southeast of Sheridan, Wyoming. Kristy was among the award recipients focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for artists and writers. A panel of arts and literary professionals review samples of art work and manuscripts before making final recommendations for residency awards.

During the three-week-long residency, Jentel provides communal spaces designated for research, recreation, food preparation, and dining. Each artist and writer is offered a private comfortably furnished accommodation and a light airy workspace. Each resident receives a stipend to help defray living expenses during the program.

Here artists and writers experience unfettered time to allow for thoughtful reflection and meditation on the creative process in a setting that preserves the agricultural and historical integrity of the land. The Jentel Artist Residency Program offers a spectacularly beautiful place to peacefully work and achieve personal artistic goals in a remarkable environment. The program residents enjoy interaction with peers and the extended community. For any artist in whatever media, protected time from the day-to-day necessities of living to examine and reflect upon work and the creative process is essential as a catalyst for artistic development. For more information, www.jentelarts.org.

rubber gloved had with glitter on pointer finger

vomit bag with pipe cleaners bursting out

tray of slides with glittery objects sandwiched

Holding Court
Archival inkjet prints
2020-2021

I shot the first image of this series on March 14, 2020, just as things were beginning to shut down in Houston. The last photograph was made on March 13, 2021, after completing the 365th image. I used making these images as a way to keep sane during the pandemic and quarantine. During the first many months of the stay at home order, I thrived. This project was a huge part of that. It was important to have a thing to do each day. The process of putting on the make up, the wigs, the outfits (or, in many cases, uncut piece of fabric), shooting, editing and showering was the perfect daily ritual.

The series is heavily inspired by the art of drag and many individual drag artists. I love drag because, at its heart, it’s about confidence, power, agency and escapism. It is about being unapologetic and taking up space. And it gives one the ability to be someone else. My images explore identity, power, and the creation of characters.

As I worked on this series, I thought a lot about queer culture and the gay men and trans woman who pioneered this art form and whether it is ok for me to be making this work. I still don't know if the answer is entirely yes, but I hope people view it as the love letter to drag and queerness that I intend it to be.

tight grid of portrait photos on gallery wall

woman eating hamburger dressed in burger ingredients

blonde woman in dress with avocado print that matches background wallpaper

woman with fierce expression and colorful makeup

Memories
Archival inkjet prints
2023-2024

In 1996, I was a student at a public high school in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. All students were required to take a sex education workshop. I sat in the school library and listened to the teacher talk about the evils of sex and how you would definitely get pregnant and/or contract an STD if you did it. To drive the point home, there was a graphic slide show of pictures of actual STD outbreaks and symptoms. I vividly remember the teacher saying that genital warts could get as big as a cauliflower. She probably meant a floret, but in my head, she definitely meant a whole head of cauliflower.

That memory has stuck with me all this time, but it is not the only one. I find myself returning to snippets of time, mental images, small experiences, and emotions tied to specific objects. This series tries to capture and explicate those strongest snippets of memory that appear unimportant but won't go away.

Both the objects and backgrounds in these images relate to specific flashes of memory. The titles offer an idea of each memory but, rather than spoiling it for the viewer, I hope they will find themselves examining their own memories.