We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristine Keheley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristine, what role has risk played in your life or career?
In art, or creation of any kind really, I’ve always been willing to take big risks and be vulnerable. Risk seems to go with ambition and adventure. Risk is inevitable if you’re truly alive and it’s a major growth factor. When I start a painting I’m diving off the precipice every time. I can spend ages in what looks like, and often feels like, aimless wandering in search of the image, in search of a dynamic balance that creates and resolves tension. It’s an emotional and mysterious process that I find exciting and provocative. As a cosmetics entrepreneur (co-founder Vapour Beauty and Taos AER) risk is a very concrete experience. Making a physical product demands constant problem solving and overcoming obstacles in creative ways. In the all encompassing role of a brand founder you have to dive into things you know nothing about and make your best decision anyway. The biggest problems in the company are your job every day. That feels like you’re the Ring Master of Risk. After a while surviving risks reveals your core belief in yourself. Failing is a consistent part of risk and it’s your teacher. Being willing to experience risk has led me to self belief, I trust where passion leads me and I’m certain that Beauty heals us.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m an abstract painter. Color is my first language. Color and light lead me in the creation of space and form.
I have a couple creative mottos: “Beauty is The Healer” and “Create the Invisible World”. Those two concepts distill my process. Witnessing the awe of physical beauty is transformational. I want to make paintings that bring the viewer into a similarly heightened state of some kind: calm, awe, openness, stillness etc.
Painting is emotional for me and I’d like my surrendered state to translate to the viewer to enhance their sense of presence and contemplation.
Working in large formats is the most fun for me, I’m working on several pieces that are 6′ x 5′. It gets very physical and the painting becomes a way to experience a different world.
From an adjacent perspective but in a very different medium, I’ve been working on a series of natural perfumes that I’ll launch in 2024. These are all essential oil based and are immersions into the physical, transformative poetry of scent.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve spent the last 34 years in northern New Mexico, primarily in Taos and more recently in Santa Fe. In Taos, a great day would start at Envision Gallery at The Overland Complex, then a scenic hike along the West Rim Trail that winds along the top of the Rio Grand Gorge, Over the bridge you can continue on to Greater World, an off grid Earthship community that offers tours of homes to showcase sustainable building techniques, Come back into Taos for the evening with drinks and dinner at Lamberts.
In Santa Fe i’d start with coffee at La Mama, and a gallery day from Nuart on Canyon Road to SITE Santa Fe and Charlotte Jackson in the Railyard.
Drinks at Los Poblanos Bar Norte followed by dinner at Horno or La Boca.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had several amazing art dealers who were all mentors and even spiritual guides. I was in my mid 20s when I began showing my work professionally. I was a typical temperamental young artist and in those first years Karen Petit, Judy Kendall, and Debbie Pringle were patient and supportive of my work and my own personal growth. I looked up to them and respected their experience. Judy in particular taught me that artists, dealers, and collectors are a small interdependent group. That insight has helped me through decades as an artist. Anytime a painting sells it’s a moment of joy and connection to that special group.

Instagram: kristinekeheley

Other: envisiongallery.net

Image Credits
• photo of Kristine by Boris Oak • all artwork images by Kristine Keheley

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