S T O R Y T E L L E R T H R O U G H C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T & D E S I G NKris Keys is an American visual artist and fashion designer whose art explores themes of memory, identity, lineage, and healing. She began painting as a child dealing with hereditary blood and used art as a form of relaxation and expression. She creates immersive moments where guests witness the slow unfolding of a painting while stories of fashion, travel, heritage, and nature emerge organically throughout the experience. Her work transforms painting into a contemplative performance, one that encourages presence, curiosity, and reflection. Drawing from her background in fashion illustration and textile design, Kris creates elegant, site-specific experiences for luxury brands, cultural institutions, hotels, gardens, and galleries, where art becomes a living expression of craftsmanship, beauty, and intentional living. She transforms personal and ancestral narratives, especially tied to her health and family memories into visually rich, emotionally resonant collections of art, tea, and fashion.
Painting a Marathon is a 17 week journey documenting me preparing for my first marathon through art. Instead of documenting miles and pace, the series documents what endurance looks like through art, flowers, wellness rituals, transformation and dedication.
Wild Growth Original Painting
Size: 24 × 48”
Medium: Acrylic, Ink, Watercolor, Color Pencil, Marker on Canvas
Wild Growth is a reflection on those childhood dreams once deferred. It’s the things we imagined before we learned to make ourselves smaller, more practical, more acceptable.
Growth is not always orderly. Sometimes it reaches in unexpected directions. Sometimes it is tangled, excessive, unruly, and completely free. Like a garden left to grow without being told what it should become, we can discover that there is beauty in becoming without a blueprint.
This painting speaks to the journey of finding our way back, not to who we were, but to what was always alive within us. The dream may have been deferred, but it was never gone. I went back to my childhood whilst completing this painting, pulling in mediums such as color pencil, acrylic, watercolor, and marker. While training for my first marathon, I’ve had to revisit the carefree attitude most of us have as a child. Every mile asks me to keep moving toward something I cannot yet fully see.Willing to try new things, overcome fears, and just go for it.
Size: 24 × 48”
Medium: Watercolor, ink, acrylic, color pencil, marker on canvas
This is an one of one original painting. This painting is sold unframed, signed and shipped with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Please allow 1-2 weeks to receive original art for domestic orders. Allow 3-5 weeks for orders outside of the United States.