My work explores relational structure, interdependence, and the sense of order that can emerge when forms develop through an attentive process.

My paintings are built slowly through accumulation. Repeating organic shapes gather across the canvas to form dense, interwoven fields. Rather than organizing the composition around a central focal point, I work with non-hierarchical systems. Each form participates equally in the whole, distributing visual authority so the painting begins to function like a living field.

The process unfolds through cycles of expansion and regulation. Forms multiply and press against one another until the surface becomes crowded or unstable, then shift into a slower phase of adjustment as the composition finds balance. I’m interested in how much density a painting can hold, and what kinds of relationships allow a complex structure to remain alive.

Up close, the viewer encounters hundreds of small decisions that hold the field together. My paintings ask for slow looking so that over time relationships emerge and order becomes visible within the complexity.

Read more about my process on Substack.

Biography

Kristen Phillips is an abstract painter based in Bend, Oregon. Her work explores relational structure, interdependence, and non-hierarchical composition through layered organic forms that gather into dense, interwoven fields.

She holds a BFA in Visual Communication and a BA in Art History from Northern Arizona University and has pursued additional study at the Honolulu Academy of Art, the Art Students League of New York, and the New York School of the Arts.

Alongside her studio practice, Phillips also works as a cycling coach, bringing the same attention to structure, process, and long-term development into her work. Her coaching includes personalized endurance training and strength training.