So many artists — and arts organizations writ large — are turning to technology to reach and expand their audience during the COVID-19 lockdown. Count La Quinta-based artist Kristin Winters among them.
A fixture on the local art scene, frequently exhibiting in Palm Desert and Joshua Tree, Winters combines experimental video and traditional printmaking in her latest body of work, “Novel Virus.” Her innovation earned a $500 grant from the nonprofit California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) to “Keep Art Alive.”
CDAC and affiliate La Quinta Arts Foundation established the $50,000 Keep Art Alive Fund to award grants to Coachella Valley artists and nonprofit arts organizations affected by COVID-19 and create new works responding to the pandemic.
“The linocut prints, which depict different interpretations of the coronavirus, are cut out and colored to create movable and free flowing forms,” she says, explaining how she integrates greenscreen, animation, and augmented reality technologies. “The video portrays a tarot reading that sets up the story of our hero’s journey through the underworld. Each card represents a complex relationship between characters that unfold with work itself. The virus prints alongside the tarot cards, represent the unifying uncertainty and liminal space we all must transcend.”
Winters, who graduated in 2008 with a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute, has also worked as an assistant at the Marks Art Center at College of the Desert in Palm Desert and a museum camp educator at Palm Springs Art Museum.
Visit Kristin Winters online at kristinwintersartist.com
