ARTIST STATEMENT
I’m Kristin Maija Peterson, a visual artist who connects people with the everyday, ordinary, and extraordinary facets of the natural world through art, observation, science, and story.
I blend art and story with self-directed science and environmental research to bridge an understanding of our current and historical relationship with the natural world. Work for series and exhibitions begins with curiosity and an ongoing search for awe and biodiversity in my immediate environment.
A through-line of my practice involves memories of growing up in rural west-central Minnesota, surrounded by the natural beauty of moraine glacier hills, expansive prairie, rivers, lakes, and woodlands. Born in the early 1960s, even then, my young self sensed the Earth was in trouble, and my childhood world would not last.
I work through detailed, layered watercolors and large graphite drawings to elevate the beauty and biodiversity found in uncultivated ecosystems with a call to save all that we can without judgment or remonstration. Ironically, we need nature to heal from our overly technological existence that is killing our true nature.
My work emphasizes what it means to be present in nature, closely witnessing what is right in front of me. It’s an invitation to cultivate curiosity, observe how the natural world reveals to us, and rekindle a bond to our environment and ourselves. In saving all that we can here on Earth, love has to be a part of the equation. When we feel familiarity and connection, love inevitability follows. And what we love, we are driven to protect.
ARTIST BIO
Like many artists who came before and who will come after her, Kristin started making art at a very young age creating small picture books bound by staples and dictated to her parents the words of her made-up stories on colorfully drawn pages.
Kristin continued to practice art throughout her formative education, graduating with honors (1984) from the University of Minnesota (Morris) with a B.A. in Studio Art, Art History, and Biology. After graduating with no formal education in the business of art, Kristin moved to Minneapolis to pursue commercial art, attending classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Kristin has held creative positions in book publishing and various marketing agencies.
Having built up many skill sets, Kristin opened her design business in 1996 (
Grand Ciel Design Co.) to specialize in branding and marketing for non-profits. She practiced art in the margins whenever possible. In 2019, Kristin attended
The Women’s Art Institute (
St. Catherine’s University, St. Paul, MN) expanding her knowledge of women’s art and finding direction on environmentalism for her current series work.
The pandemic and a milestone birthday were a transition. Kristin closed her business to pursue her work as a visual artist full-time. Since 2020, she has exhibited extensively as an emerging artist in the mid-west region in juried group shows and solo exhibitions. Kristin practices art and writing through
Terra Kind Studio Co. and is committed to donating 10% of her annual art sales to environmental non-profits.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Reedy Gallery,
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN.
2022 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Owatonna Arts Center, Owatonna, MN.
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2024
I Into the Madlands Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis.
2024
I What Fierce Looks Like Artists of the Women’s Art Institute, FORM+CONTENT Gallery, Minneapolis.
2024
I 23rd Annual Poet-Artist Collaboration Exhibit I Red Wing Arts, Red Wing, MN
2022
I 27th Annual Extremely Minnesota Exhibit I Robbins Gallery,
Robbinsdale, MN, November-December.
2022 I Ever-Present: Birds in Our Daily Lives I Jurier Mike Curran. Silverwood Park Gallery, St. Anthony, MN.
2022 I Minnesota State Fair Annual Fine Arts Exhibit I Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN
2022 I Mississippi River Stories I Mississippi Watershed District Management Organization, Minneapolis
2021 I Many Waters I A Minnesota Biannual Juried Exhibit, Minnesota Museum of American Art,
St. Paul, MN July-October.
2021 I 20th Annual Poet-Artist Collaboration Exhibit I Red Wing Arts, Red Wing, MN
2020 I Voices of the Midwest I Fine Line Creative Arts Center, Kavanagh Gallery, St. Charles, IL
2020 I In Your Element I The Natural Heritage Project. Hudson Hospital & Clinic Artist Gallery, Hudson, WI
2019 I The Nature of Disappearance I Silverwood Park Gallery Hudson Hospital & Clinic Artist Gallery, Hudson, WI
2019 I Work from The Women’s Art Institute I Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, University of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
2018 I Emerging Artists’ Exhibition I Lanesboro Arts, Lanesboro, MN
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Concerning Plants I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
2022 I Members’ Show I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
2020 I FOOT IN THE DOOR 5 I Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
2018 I THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Art Inspired by Wild Minnesota I ArtWorks Eagan, Eagan, MN
2016 I Art of the Garden I Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Minnetonka, MN
AWARDS
2022 I Best in Show I 27th Annual Extremely Minnesota Juried Exhibit,
Robbins Gallery,
Robbinsdale, MN, November-December
2019 I Scholarship I The Women’s Art Institute, St. Catherine University
PUBLICATIONS
2024 I 23rd Annual Poet Artist Collaboration Exhibition Clapbook. Artwork The Field Guide to the Birder’s Great Prairie Adventure ink drawings inspired by the poem The Eyes of Morning by Elizabeth Weir.
2020 I Graphite drawing Basket and written eyewitness story featured in Eyewitness: Minnesota Reflections on Climate Change published by Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy in celebration of
the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020.
2021 I 20th Annual Poet Artist Collaboration Exhibition Clapbook. Artwork I Rode The Breeze As Children Will and Took Root Someplace Else a watercolor inspired by the poem, Planted by Deborah A. Goschy.
2022 I World Wide Magazine of Art I River Divination No. 1 appears on the Frontispiece of its 9th issue.
CONTACT
Portfolio:
A collection of watercolor paintings created from 2020-2024. Each piece explores nature in the overlooked wild spaces that I consider beautiful in their own way and worthy of our attention.
“CRADLING”
Named not because of all the soft baby pinks, blues, and violets but as a reminder to leave your leaves. Let them cradle and protect hibernating insects, like bumblebee queens, the woolly bear caterpillars, as well as insect eggs and chrysalises, and other overwintering animals ~ the snails, worms, beetles, millipedes, mites, spiders that in turn are food for chipmunks, turtles, birds, and amphibians.
A pile of leaf litter can go a long way to support biodiversity and keep the natural order of living things, including us. Take a closer look. You might just find leaf litter as beautiful as I do. So much movement in the stillness.
This piece may be the beginning of a new series called Equinox (working title and a word I love). Both the spring and autumn equinoxes create a balanced day and night but for me, the equinoxes create an internal upheaval that affects me physically, physiologically, and spiritually making me feel off-balanced.
“WE WILL KNOW WHEN WE GET THERE”
Part of the River Divination series that evolved from personal experience and in preparation for the Mississippi River Stories exhibit at the Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization in partnership with St. Thomas University and the Natural Heritage Project in 2022.
When I witnessed the river on a warm October day, I had the shores to myself. There wasn’t a trace of human activity except for the wet paw print left by a passing dog. The arrangments of organic objects become the divination “we will know when we get there.”
Framed size: 28 x 28 inches
“RIVER DIVINATION”
The first of the River Divination series that evolved from personal experience and in preparation for the Mississippi River Stories exhibit at the Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization in partnership with St. Thomas University and the Natural Heritage Project in 2022.
When I witnessed the river on a warm October day, the light from the maples and the river made everything feel otherworldly. There wasn’t a trace of human activity, except for a wet paw print from a passing dog and a rusty bolt from a boat long gone. The arrangments of organic objects become the divination “we have stories to tell.”
Framed size: 36 x 30.5 inches.
