statement

Over the past several years, I have been exploring work that comments on the manipulation of nature for profit. Through drawing and site-specific works, I invent worlds that are frequently strange and ambiguous, owing much of my inspiration to ecological issues. Informed by passionate engagement with socio-political narratives, I aim to make work that cultivates a public dialogue.

I use gouache, graphite, ink, acrylic and collage to create hybridized versions of seemingly familiar yet peculiar scenarios. In my studio I take on the role of a biologist, dissecting images and classifying forms, paying close attention to the patterns and oddities in nature. Through continuous and detailed reworking, each mark is thoughtfully considered before making it onto the page.  Using reference materials such as vintage medical books, 20th century agricultural magazines, and scientific journals I strive to create elegant ecosystems within the context of disturbing genetic realities.

bio

born: 1967, Newton, Massachusetts

education

Massachusetts College of Art, 1990
Framingham State College, BA Studio Art, 1989
Richmond/Kensington College, London, England, Visual Studies, 1988

selected awards/honors

Artist Residency, Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY, 2012
4th Semiannual Competition, Dave Bown Projects, New York, NY, 2012
Artist Grant, Artists‚ Fellowship Inc. New York, NY, 2010
Cultural Equity Individual Artist Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, 2008

selected publications

Slice Magazine,  "Growing Up", Issue 10, pp. 11, 77, April 2012
New American Paintings, The Open Studios Press, Pacific Coast Edition, Volume 85, pp 132- 135, 2010
Cheng, Dewitt, "Kirsten Stolle: Evolutionary Soup at Dolby Chadwick Gallery", Art. Ltd., pp 20-21, March 2008
Daniels, Diana, Associate Curator, Crocker Art Museum, Kirsten Stolle, "Evolutionary Soup",  Essay, Exhibition Catalog, 2007

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Genetically Commodified, Asheville Area Arts Council, Asheville, NC, 2012
Anatomy Of A Future Forest, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2010
silva in posterum, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT, 2009
Evolutionary Soup, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2007

selected group shows

Around the Table: Food, Creativity, Community, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA (opening November 2013)
Ucross: Twenty-Seven Years of Visual Arts Residencies, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY, 2010
Out of Line, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, 2005
Neo Mod: Recent Northern California Abstraction, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, 2004