Taking inspiration from the flora, fauna, and landscapes of the South, Kris Muntan creates colorful abstract paintings with a wide variety of mixed-media.
Lately, her interest in oil and cold wax (applied with palette knives rather than brushes) has created a stunning series of highly textural paintings that are well-worth exploring. Here are just three of her recent paintings, which I know you’ll enjoy!
Coincidence, seen below, has several elements that drew me to it, right from the start. First, those patches of gold stretching across the painting practically leapt out of the composition—not only do they make a great visual statement, but to me they feel like strange, sun-lit tree tops waving gently in the breeze atop tall spindly tree trunks.
I can’t help but see an otherworldly landscape here, where gravity is more of a suggestion, than a law. And underneath it all, that crackled background texture (and the way it interacts with the runnels of paint on top) is simply gorgeous.
Of course, Round Peg, is equally mesmerizing, below – just in a cold way, like the crystal latticework you find inside a falling snowflake. Icy blues and whites filter warm sunlight, turning slowly into gray shadows in the right side of the canvas. And then, in the center, a subtle square defines a second painting inside the first.
White drips of paint run down from that central square, until it almost seems like a block of ice slowly thawing to match its slightly warmer environment.
Last but certainly not least, Sunny Disposition brings something new to the table. . . a brief burst of color (several, actually!)
In this painting, bits of bright orange, blue, and yellow break forth from a mass of white. Their intense hues draw the eye, making the rest of the painting seem like its obscuring some fantastic city, perched on the side of a massive cliff face (or maybe seen from miles above, covered over by white fluffy clouds).
Whatever you personally see in Kris Muntan’s work, I’m sure it’s lovely—and I hope you’ll take just a minute or two to view the rest of her paintings at her website today.
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