We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristen Silva. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristen below.
Kristen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I was fortunate enough to find my style of art through a mistake. One day, at my work station, I spilled some coffee on a paper that I needed for another project and started at it, day after day. At some point, the spill started to take shape and a figure could be made out of it. That began my professional style of using coffee as a medium. Previously, I had worked with oil painting and I was at a place where I was ready to explore other mediums. The timing was perfect. There was no way to really get to that point sooner. It had to discover me when I was ready to see it. I think if someone had encouraged to me to do it without that time to really get to know the style, I wouldn’t love it as much as I do. Patience for myself while I learned the new process was essential. It taught me patience with my work as well. Forcing things in art, much like in life, creates a less organic product and I feel that creatives and their audiences alike can spot the difference. I feel lucky that experiencing my art in those early days was so wide open. I didn’t have many artists to compare the style with then. It gave me so much freedom to enjoy and learn the medium without comparing myself to others.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kristen Silva, a visual artist specializing in coffee as an art medium. I’ve been professionally painting over a decade and half of that time has been focused on the organic medium of coffee. My life has always been a blend of art, community and coffee and it’s reflected in my work and the spaces I am lucky to be a part of. My work is unique in that it’s an organic medium that I make and source the resource myself, which makes it often a more intimate work experience. Creating doesn’t just begin at a sketch, but as I make the coffee in my preferred brew methods. I use french pressed coffee, espresso and drip coffee and each one has unique and interesting temperaments that inform the pieces. One thing I really enjoy about this style is seeing people discover the method as it turns from a misperceived watercolor to living piece of art before their eyes. People have questions and light up as they become more interactive with the piece and the method. They see things they hadn’t before, just like in life.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One incredible lesson I’ve learned specifically with the work I do now is to enjoy the process. My work before I discovered coffee was very controlled and specific, which limited me in many ways. It made my experience as a whole less enjoyable and my work was often very static. It was crucial to unlearn the specific ways in which I was holding myself back from creating work that felt organic. The storytelling in my pieces is happening as I experience it, not through meticulous planning or critical editing. I’ve been able to let go of those worries and doubts in my creative process which has made for a living piece of art with a story, rather than a snapshot.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Connection is certainly the most rewarding aspect of being an artist. There’s an authenticity that is unmatched when you connect with others about art. Art can be such a seemingly individual experience as you create but when you share the experience with others, a new part of it is unlocked. Viewing art with others can show you something new about the other person. Sometimes, you get a deeper understanding of a viewer or a creator. It’s a way of connecting that otherwise might go unnoticed. Sharing that time and view of collected experience is such a beautiful and profound way to get to know someone.
Contact Info:
- Website: kristensilvaart.com
- Instagram: @kristensilva_