Kristine Kollasch artist
Kristine Kollasch’s artwork does not fit into one category. She is a painter and a sculptor, a designer and builder. Her studio art ranges from mixed media assemblages to ethereal landscapes in acrylics that are made with layers of color, textured with the impressions of leaves and twigs. There are small whimsical ceramic sculptures and monumental contemporary steel sculptures. You will find several styles and expressions in her studio, each technique and style backed up with a significant body of work. And as different as her works can be, they do relate to one another, with similarities and subtleties of color or composition, or with love and humor and a joy that can be seen and felt throughout Kris’s work.
Kris moved to the Phoenix area in 1995 with a degree in art education from Adams State College, in Alamosa, Co. But instead of getting a job in education she landed a job Habitat, Inc, a design/build firm in Tempe, AZ from 1985-1996. There she built architectural and topographical scale models and grew to manage the 3D department that encompassed model building, signage fabrication and 3D displays. This experience and the connections made there allowed her to start her own business in 1996.
Her company, Fine Art & Creative Environments, LLC. that umbrellas her work in Fine Art, Murals & Themed Environments, and Public Art has impacted the southwest far beyond the Kollasch studio. Many hospitals, medical facilities, parks, restaurants, and residences have become brighter spots through the work of Kris and her team.
She has also impacted the arts in AZ through her involvement with Free Arts for Abused Children of AZ, with GLSEN Phoenix, as a mentor, teacher and advocate. As the lead curator at the First Studio Gallery in downtown Phoenix since 2012, Kris has coordinated and curated over 65 shows there, featuring hundreds of local and regional artists.
To find out more about Kris Kollasch, follow her on FB at Fine Art & Creative Environments, LLC or IG @Art_And_Environments. www.ArtAndEnvironments.com
