January Gallery Exhibit: “The mess and the minutiae”

blis, aka Kristen Nekovar

January 8 - February 5, 2022

Astoria Visual Arts is honored to present the second solo exhibit by an AVA artist-in-residence, blis, aka Kristen Nekovar.

Over the last six months, blis has been working with unabashed exploration of process and subject in a rent-free studio space with art supplies provided at cost by Dots N’ Doodles and a generous supply of coffee and pastries from the Astoria Coffee House & Bistro. The result after months of dedicated studio time is an introspective body of work of highly detailed personal reflections on mental health and addiction entitled “The mess and the minutiae.”

blis’s story is one that is all too common along the North Coast. Eighteen months ago she stopped drinking; 9 months ago she started painting for real; 6 months ago she was awarded the AVA a-i-r. 

“The mess and the minutiae” features many new abstract, illustrative paintings, all intricately rendered in her signature, explorative style. Viewers can get lost in the details of faces, animals, body parts, monsters, and anything under the sun that is hidden in plain sight.

“To be honest, at 42 years old, I feel like I am just starting to really get to know myself,” blis begins. “Art has opened up so much of my being that it makes me feel like a child again with wild and unabashed exploration. My artwork prior to my time in the [AVA] studio space was primarily smaller pieces, done with a specific motive or story to tell. It was like I had to lay the chips on my shoulder down one by one, and live in that experience, each detail, before I could let it go. When I entered the studio space I set an intention to work bigger and freer. Loosen up, if I could.”

During her residency, while not able to network during Art Walk due to covid, she did apply for and was awarded a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission for art supplies and custom framing, and she aims to continue pursuing art as a meaningful career. 

“People have asked me about my ‘style’ or ‘what I paint,’” blis says, “and by golly that was a tough question to answer. I have since, and conveniently to the AVA a-i-r acronym, self defined my art as a-(ii)-r: abstract-illustrative-illusionary-realism. It’s a mouthful. So is my work."