Take Your Shoes Off

Kristina Søbstad

Kristina Søbstad is a Canadian-Norwegian visual artist currently based on the Eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Søbstad earned a BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2010.

Søbstad’s work involves abstracted landscape paintings on canvas. “I seek to embody movement in my work by synthesizing sound, form, and colour, resulting in unexpected juxtapositions. My process is intuitive and involves a full immersion into the natural environment: documenting, sketching, exploring, engaging, experiencing. These aren’t little dates, an afternoon with my easel overlooking a pretty vista. These are full-blown, love affairs that last weeks if not months, where I get close and intimate. I go deep on the trails and getting covered in mud, burrs and swamp; I wade the tidal pools and palpate mussels to find pearls; I seek out the hidden with patience and quiet respect, like the bioluminescent algae on Middle Cove Beach (Newfoundland) where thousands of people have spent time and very few have seen. I translate memory-sensory, autobiographical, emotional, muscle into physical form on canvas using expressive gestural brush strokes, and thoughtful deliberate mark making. My environmental interests are the underpinnings of my practice. My focus on remote or isolated communities arose from experiencing, exploring and learning distinct ways of being in these places compared to urban settings.”

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