Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Diederich.

Hi Kristen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

K. Diederich is abstract painter working from my studio in Portland, Oregon.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Some roads start out dirt. Others are paved cul-de-sacs. Some roads turn to gravel suddenly. Others go for miles. I’ve lived in a suburban conservative town, a motel, five cities, a town of 400 and on extended road trips. I’ve slept on packaging foam and in art installations. Born in Tallahasse Florida, I can say I’m from the South but that isn’t true. My family is from Nebraska, where we would Summer. I’ve been burned by the sun and in love. I’ve been cursed by a river and recently lifted that curse with a Nebraska 1994 Huskers cap. I grew up in southern California, but not much about me says So Cal.

As you can imagine, I’ve hit some bumps and full blown stops. There were times where I had to get out of the car so to speak. My curiosity leads me down roads I never expected — I was even on a Lobster boat recently, transporting two of my large scale paintings from an Island residency to Carver Hill Gallery for my upcoming May 2025 show. I lost four giant paintings for that very show in the post— Fed Ex claims they “disappeared”. As I’m writing this at the public library my friend Marcus says I’m a person with many foibles and triumphs, more like a character in a book than someone who exists. I’ll thank him for that later.

A work evolves, just as a life does. Often this means finding that something– maybe cosmic– courage, to choose one path or another. You never know who you will meet. The materiality of painting supports the ineffable energy of painterly vision. When time and its precious restrictions, give way to an element of play. Don’t mistake this impulse for naivety, whether it be a certain brush stroke or color, generative musing for lack of substance. It is a myth-making — we all can become lighter from this way of being open and not stifled by self-consciousness.

I’ve hosted live poetry events, painted in front of crowds and on islands. I acted in a commercial last year and met many new friends and collaborators. These connections brought me to Atlanta earlier this year to assist on a photoshoot with renowned director and photographer, Holly Andres.

All this, and yet I feel most at home alone in my painting studio in North Portland Oregon, where I’ve spent the majority of my time these past few years in North Portland. My mother Tammy taught me how to paint– or rather how to regard what I am seeing in a light worth taking in– this is how I move forward, paintbrush in hand. This past few years have solidified my identity as a visual artist. I look forward to exhibiting more of my paintings across the USA and beyond.

Just last week, I exhibited a large painting during Frieze week in LA. It almost didn’t arrive on time due to it’s schedule pick up date being on the only day Portland, Oregon saw snow this year. Somehow my partner Devin and the crew at Lobster Club gallery made it all happen. I always say we all need to learn to lean on our communities because that is how we get through the slog and setbacks. I flew down there for the opening at Lobster Club gallery and a film premiere.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I’m a fine-arts painter based in Portland, Oregon. My characteristic abstract painting style emerged during periods of time spent in coastal Maine, Oregon and Europe.

Empathy and appreciation for the natural world is evident in my use of varied textures, bold compositions and evocative palettes. I wish to render the world as much as I feel alienated from it at times. Because of this tension, my paintings are at the confluence of an inner life and the environments that inspire me. The style I’ve developed in recent years, Lyrical Landscape, is rooted in abstraction that comes with moving through a world with seemingly endless possibility of shape, form and color.
This feeling I’m capturing in my work verges on surreal.

I’ve exhibited across Oregon, notably at Chefas Projects, Maine and recently in Los Angeles during Frieze week with Lobster Club gallery. I’m looking forward to my long awaited Carver Hill Gallery in May 2025 in Camden, Maine.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?

Keeping an open and resilient mind has ushered in a string of events, or manifestations in my life. I’ve always been a competitive person with a tendency towards inward reflection, which can make for a somewhat unconventional way of processing information. This is why I gravitate towards storytelling through painting. Both mediums are opportunities for me to reflect and transmute my experiences into art for others to consider. I feel this intense reverence for other artists as this labor, which I see as an outpouring of love for the world, or at least an attempt to understand it, is often the most demanding and rewarding work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kristendiederich.com/
• Instagram: @kdiederichstudio

Image Credits

Personal photo was taken by artist Holly Stadler in Kristen Diederich’s studio.

Candid shots Film from Frieze week LA 2025 courtesy of Lobster Club gallery.

Photo of K.Diederich transporting her paintings via Lobster boat from Whitehead Island courtesy of Devin Ludwig.

All other images of K. Diederich’s paintings courtesy of the artist.