Kristin Elizabeth aka Kris Montagna aka Snakegrrrl

ARTIST STATEMENT 2025

Greetings!

I am a multimedia visual artist, currently focused mainly on 2D creations such as drawings, prints, and paintings. My original pieces are all handmade, using mixed media (from charcoal to inks to bodily fluids) on whatever material avails me for canvas (from paper or linen to wood or plastic). I experiment with using a variety of objects for paint application, such as; standard brushes, kitchen utensils, make-up applicators, wine bottles, etc.

I am mainly a self-taught “autodidact” artist. I have obsessively made art since being caught drawing on hallway walls as a toddler. I studied dance and social activism at Bowdoin College in Maine, followed by a masters in Expressive Arts Therapy at Lesley University in Cambridge MA. My work life has spanned social work to arts therapy to retail to handicraft hawking. My personal life has spanned from coast to coast, heart to heart, and illicit to illaudable to illustrious.

My artwork is my life journal, my personal diary, and my “grimoire” (book of spells/magic/charms). My creative process is a combination of spontaneity and improvisation, as well as an exploration of historical, cultural, and spiritual interests (myths and stories) to guide my inadvertent ideation. My creations are a fortuitous combination of observing and experiencing life “as is” along with visions, hopes, and dreams for the future. I am motivated by the mystical process of drawing itself, a necessity for me as great as breathing. My inspirations range from the personal to the political, from private relationships to cultural influences. These visions manifest in order to express my soul, as well as to fulfill a spiritual desire to foster new realities (to cultivate welcoming, transformational, devotional, joy centered energies and creative spaces).

Please enjoy, peruse, guffaw, ruminate, &/or contact me at: serpentspice@yahoo.com