Christina Kent is an American realist painter working primarily in oils and gouache. Through her paintings she captures the beauty of the natural world onto the canvas in confident, energetic brush strokes. She enjoys painting contemplative portraits that demonstrate the complexity of human emotions. When painting landscapes and still lifes, she focuses on highlighting beautiful moments infused with emotion through color and composition.
Kent was born in Houston, Texas and now lives in San Francisco. Kent first fell in love with painting through portraiture. As she paints, she connects with the thoughts and feelings of her subject. There is something arresting about the human gaze that draws her in.
Through her portraits and figures, she hopes the viewer finds something they can relate to in the person depicted, while also appreciating the unique way that light and color plays across the form.
Kent also studies how color, shape, and lighting compositions give rise to different feelings through still life painting. Two avocados set next to each other may reflect a sense of peace, while orange slices illuminated by a light from behind build a sense of wonder and magic. Her still lifes focus on simple subjects, and encourage the viewer to recognize the beauty in everyday things.
Following her move to California, Kent has begun to embrace landscape painting both in nature and in the studio. Her plein air paintings capture the essences of nature in the moment, including both the beautiful California landscape and the emotional resonance of the smells, sounds, and feelings of painting in nature.
In the studio, Kent draws upon various references to explore paintings of expansive landscapes to connect with a feeling of vastness.
