Kristin Llamas
Born in Rochester, New York, Kristin Llamas is a contemporary painter and installation artist whose work is guided by a belief that art unites people. Her work is project based, however whether it be two-dimensional oil paintings, digital drawings, or large scale street installations, every theme is a question or commentary on life, current events, and social justice issues.
At 22 yrs old, Llamas created her first solo museum exhibit by traveling to all fifty states. She created 50 paintings while on the road for one year. The goal was to illustrate her experiences in each state and “Unite America through Art.” This body of work was called The Nomadic Project and toured across America and into Europe. Several pieces from this series have made their way into museum collections such as the Taube Museum of Art, Ramsey Museum and Tennessee State Museum. She credits that early success on a sense of fearless ambition.
Llamas’ recent series titled the “Socratic Dialogues” illustrates Socratic questioning based on virtues such as Truth, Honor, Courage, Justice, and relates them to current events. While her art touches on heavy themes, it can also be seen as quite playful.
For her current project, Llamas created a series called Llamas Art Show. Here, she plays upon her own last name to study the stories behind everyone’s name. She encourages individuals submit their naming stories (Why were you given that name? Do you relate to it? etc) and in return, she creates each names as a drawing of a llama…yes the animal.
Kristin also works collaboratively on installations ranging from small gallery pieces to city-wide installations with husband, Alfonso Llamas. The artist couple together makes up the husband and wife artist team, AK Llamas. The main subject in their installations is a pink flower which they call an Amaranth. This is Greek symbolism for the “never fading flower.” Their installation work was exhibited down three city blocks in Nashville, was selected for the Nashville International Airport and exhibited throughout the U.S., France, Greece, Italy and Switzerland. Kristin, Alfonso and their three daughters made Nashville their home in 2008. She continues to develop new work and commissions that benefit social causes. Llamas is also the founder of The YOUnite Tour, an international art movement that spans 56 countries and speaks at events around the United States, including a presentation with TEDx Nashville.
Llamas’ creates work that is project-based, ranging from large scale paintings, digital drawings, to even street art installations. The most common theme around all of her projects is that they are all guided by conversation with the community. For her, the art is in the research and interaction more than the final product. She begin every project by engaging the community in a dialogue. She sees art as a unifying force, a common language that we all speak. Her very first community-driven project took place at 22 when she traveled to all fifty states for a year on a mission to “Unite America Through Art.”
From there, she created gallery and street art exhibits that embody art as a community interactive force, Llamas’ quickly learned that art is more than what is confined within the gallery walls, and more about the experience it becomes for the viewers!
