Kristy Luck’s paintings are windows into psychological spaces in which forms emerge from fluid gestures and rich colors. Building upon sketches, her surreal landscapes evoke a subconscious understanding of space and objects. Luck notes, "I think of it as revisiting the same place at a different time of day, or years later. The color, the emphasis, the images, all shift and change - like music.”
Kristy Luck's works have a shifting atmospheric spatial sense, due in part perhaps to her meticulous yet open painterly practice. "My paintings start with creating and refining the surface. The first layer of paint is a translucent 'drawing' that covers the entire canvas. This creates the underlying structure and commitment to my composition. I then slowly add layers of paint with wax and build up intuitively with little to no planning.”
Luck's works feature erupting volcanoes, bursting blooms, spinning tornadoes and the complexities of the human body. Her paintings feel transformational, allowing the viewer to bring their own associations and readings to a given scene. “I want my surfaces to generously reveal their making to the viewer in visible, built-up layers and repeated patterns. At the same time, I let the forms in the image slip out of grasp to evoke personal or private mystery.”
Inspired by artists and writers like Carol Rama and Clarice Lispector, and poetry in particular, Kristy Luck's work addresses sensuality, imagination and memory. We experience these spaces as if in a dream: "Part of how I gauge when a piece is finished is that there is no pre-dominant read." There is a sense of presence in these works, but also one of absence, a feeling of things coming together, and at the same time breaking apart.
Kristy Luck (b. 1985, Woodstock, IL) received her BFA from Rockford University (Rockford, IL) and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL). Kristy Luck’s work is the subject of, "The Journey Before Me: Etel Adnan, Michelle Blade, Kristy Luck,” at Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (2024, Novato, CA). Kristy Luck’s work was recently the subject of a solo exhibition, “Close to the Verb,” at Philip Martin Gallery (2023, Los Angeles, CA) . In June 2022, Kristy Luck had a solo exhibition at Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo, Brazil). Luck’s solo July 2021 exhibition at Philip Martin Gallery was selected as an Artforum Critic’s Pick. Luck’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); ODD ARK LA (Los Angeles, CA); Eastside International (Los Angeles, CA); and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Chicago, IL). Additionally, her work has been included in group shows at Torrance Art Museum (Torrance, CA); Jacob’s West (Los Angeles, CA); 0-0LA (Los Angeles, CA); Guerrero Gallery (San Francisco, CA); Corbett vs. Dempsey (Chicago, IL); A Public Space (Fishers Island, New York); and Projet Pangée (Montreal, Canada). In May 2023, Kristy Luck's work was selected by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art for the museum's permanent collection. Luck's work has been featured in numerous publications including Artforum, Art in America, Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Artillery Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, The Editorial Magazine, and Opening Ceremony. Luck lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.