ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER, 2025
KRISTINA ROSE BAKER
Painter
Sonoma County, California USA
Kristina Rose Baker is a multifaceted artist and educator based in Sonoma County, California. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015. Baker is a board member to The Farm Studio (501c3), advisor to the developing Open Fields Institute, and co-founder of Crit Collective, an online critique group for visual artists. She is recipient of the Florence Lief Fellowship, Gamblin Paint Award, and Anderson Ranch Brooks Fellowship. Her diverse professional experience spans arts education, museum exhibitions, grant writing, and art advisory. Her paintings have been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications in the U.S.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings occur at the rupture of the infinite horizon. The diver has emerged as a profound metaphorical vessel in my artistic practice-a liminal figure suspended between states of being. Originally inspired by "The Tomb of the Diver (Tomba del Tuffatore)" in present-day Campania, I have devoted the past two years to exploring this imagery in my work and developing my own interpretations of its significance. While honoring the artistic tradition established by notable predecessors who have explored the diver motif throughout art history, I infuse the subject with personal narratives of loss, and ephemeral impressions of spiritual communion.
My figurative oil paintings and charcoal drawings capture the fleeting instant where human form transcends the boundaries of known and unknown, corporeal and ethereal, serving as an ongoing investigation into the psychological and physical thresholds of what it means to exist as a being between two worlds. Figures transition from a place of heaviness and solidity to one of weightlessness and levity, striving to annihilate their forms through the process of painting. As a swimmer and artist, I am deeply drawn to the metaphorical richness of water as a dominion of subconscious exploration. Diving represents the critical suspended moment after committing to an action of great consequence and before arriving at its ultimate conclusion-a meditation on risk, the inevitable, and trust in the unseen. Each piece seeks to capture bodies in motion that appear to have been replicated through time immemorial, yet remain utterly singular and present. The paintings themselves are highly layered and sought after, with the physical surfaces scraped, eroded, and demolished before settling upon a final composition. Raw expressionist gestures are contraposed with delicate line work, while brief descriptive notations of hands and feet, aquatic life, cliffs, or reflections on water provide a tether to the observable world. The charcoal drawings evolve organically, beginning as mercurial impressions of light and shadow before expanding in size through additional joined paper, as figures gradually emerge from the darkness. They are then are torn, reassembled, and sanded down many times before their final forms are achieved. The pentimento of these past iterations remains visible on the surface, a living history of the unachievable yet searching perfection of the hand. My goal through the continued expansion of this series is to allow the figurative elements of the paintings and drawings to continue to dissolve, exploring the notion of the figure as an embodiment of absence and eventual transcendence from the physical realm. In rendering visible these metaphysical ponderings, my work ultimately invites viewers to contemplate the paradox of consciousness as something that exists both in and outside of the body.
MY experience at the Arroscia Residency
“My time at the Arroscia Residency in Pieve di Teco was incredibly fruitful and expansive. The gift of uninterrupted time and space to draw and paint allowed me to fully immerse myself in the rhythm, landscape, and quiet beauty of the Arroscia Valley. By remaining open and responsive to a setting steeped in layered history and lived tradition, I found myself surprised by the work that emerged—work I could never have planned or anticipated in advance.
I was astounded at what I was able to accomplish in two months time: creating a substantial exhibition, discovering unexpected sources of inspiration, falling further in love with language, and forming beautiful new friendships. I will forever cherish both the sweetness and the challenges of this experience, which offered profound insight into my creative process and a deeper understanding of myself.”
— KRISTINA ROSE BAKER, Artist-in-Residence 2025
MEET KRISTINA ROSE BAKER, our first Arroscia Residency Artist-in-Residence 2025
Kristina took a break from the studio to answer a few questions, giving us a glimpse into her personality and perspective.
ART: Welcome to the Arroscia Residency, the Arroscia Valley and Pieve di Teco. What are your first impressions?
KRB: My first impression is that the pace of life here is much more leisurely than I am accustomed to. It appears to me that people tend to take their time, enjoy seeing each other, and are not in a rush. I have gathered that food and relationships are the heart of this community. Additionally, the colors I observe in the environment and painted on the buildings- hues of lemon sorbet, sage, apricot, and faded coral- mirror the warmth that I have experienced from all the people so far.
ART: How would you describe your artistic style?
KRB: To translate my work into language provides a narrow snapshot of the scope of what I create, but for the moment, I most closely identify with and label my work as figurative abstraction. The drawings and paintings are not based solely in reality, but reference it and incorporate recognizable elements as access points for the viewer. From there, reality shifts into something less limited and more spacious, with room to breathe. The element of abstraction allows the poetry and formlessness of the spiritual realm to enter the conversation.
ART: What's the most unusual material you've ever incorporated into your art?
KRB: My earlier paintings often incorporated a wide range of found materials—corroded metal fragments, railroad spikes, soil, concrete, wax, dried herbs, sand, burlap, straw, and more—embedded into the surface of the oil paint, creating a richly textured and tactile experience. In my past performance work, I used elemental ingredients such as milk, wine, honey, figs, salt, grains, spices, and homemade bread in ritual-based actions, with the remnants of these performances evolving into immersive installation pieces.
ART: Can you walk me through your creative process when starting a new piece?
KRB: Visual imagery starts to percolate in my mind through the tangential practices of writing, poetry, and music. A phrase or an archetype runs through my mind and I chase the image. These images are hinged upon my personal experiences while the language that accompanies often speaks to something more metaphysical and transcendent. My paintings often begin with broad, gestural marks that evoke movement and the presence of body, and vibrate from the intensity of unadulterated pigments. From there, I begin to draw with paint, layering lines to create overlapping forms. At a certain point, I deliberately try to lose the image, obscuring the canvas with veils of paint in the hope of uncovering something more visceral and honest. For me, a successful painting surpasses the limitations of what my mind had originally envisioned, revealing deeper and more urgent layers of my psyche.
ART: If your art could speak, what would it say about you?
KRB: “She is deliberate, and not concerned with erasure. There is a lot underneath the surface that not everyone has access to. She wants to talk about what is unseen. Patience is greatly rewarded. ”
ART: If you could have dinner with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
KRB: I would love to spend an evening conversing with Æmen Ededéen (Joshua Hagler)- my favorite contemporary painter, based in New Mexico. As beautifully written by John Yau, his work is “inhabited by higher spirits”. His paintings are haunting and mysterious, and touch upon a lot of the same themes I am concerned with in my own work- namely, spiritualism and otherworldly experiences in the wilderness. I would love to hear more about the specific inspirations, processes, and stories that shape the paintings. Bonus if his equally talented artist-wife Maja Ruznic could also join us
ART: What's one piece of advice you'd give to your younger artistic self?
KRB: To charge forth with no fears or expectations. To not pay any attention to external noise. To only paint what truly moves me and makes me feel alive. That seeking truth and vulnerability is the most noble of pursuits. That the other side of discomfort is revelation.
To learn more visit Kristina’s website: https://www.kristinarosebaker.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krbakerart/
