Kristen Neveu
What brought you to Evanston?
We lived in Chicago, then moved to Los Angeles in 2007. We were there until 2013, and then my husband got an offer to come back and teach at Northwestern. We missed Chicagoland more than we thought we would and we wanted to move back, especially for my daughter to grow up here.
How does your environment inform your art?
Years ago, I started painting in the evenings as a way to empty my head after a day at work. I didn't go to school for art. When I paint, it's tied to my day-to-day routine; it comes naturally. By working at home, I can work for a couple of hours, or just carve out a half hour. My studio is off the kitchen in an open space. It's homey, flexible, and easy. My husband's a writer and in a band, and my daughter plays piano and sings, so we have a creative family environment going on.
What is your medium?
I'm a mixed media painter. I've also worked on installations and collages in the past.
Describe your art, in a hundred words or less.
I experiment with acrylic paint, watercolor, oil pastel, and colored pencils on canvas or wood. I layer the materials to create texture, and there's a meditative flow in the structure. They are abstract paintings. I have a musical background. I grew up playing piano, clarinet, and singing. My parents were both music majors in college. I'm beginning to understand that I could be using a visual means to create abstract musical patterns. The paintings also can look like topographical maps.
What are you currently working on?
I'm just finishing up 15 small 11x17 paintings for Fall Evanston Made Art Tour, Oct. 5, 6. I'll be selling them this weekend at Secret Treasures Antiques. I also just hung up 10 paintings at Gather, also in Evanston. This fall and winter, I'm planning a series of work related to being authentic. I've titled the project Searching for the Genuine. It will be paintings and possibly an installation.
Name one piece of art, by any artist, that blew your mind or otherwise inspired you.
City Landscape, by Joan Mitchell. I visit it at the Art Institute when I can!
Why art?
I have to do it. It keeps me calm. It's a challenge but it keeps me going.
Kristins website
kristenneveu.com
