Krista M Jiannacopoulos

I am a Greek-American artist living in Los Angeles. In 2008, I moved from Chicago to L.A. While in Chicago, I was actively involved in the underground art movement and sub-community of women artists. I was co-founder of the Chicago Artists Exchange (CAE) which was headed by Heidi Kohz and included Adeline Sides and Alison Dorr. The CAE mission was to educate local businesses and communities on why they should purchase and display local art in their businesses.CAE events welcomed artists from all backgrounds - painters, photographers, dancers, cooks, writers. The women behind CAE inspired each other as they celebrated their passion for art together.Still very new to the Los Angeles art scene, I continue my work supporting women in the arts. I am an active member of the Woman Made Gallery, Women’s Caucus for Art and the International Museum of Women. As an artist, strong, brilliant and raw colors have always interested me. Fabrics also intrigue me and are used with acrylic on canvas in my Color Vintage series. My mother was a painter, a craftswoman and a seamstress. It is definitely from her that I get my intense level of creativity and admiration for color and the use of fabrics; but it is also from her that I continue to believe in the values of feminism using them as the foundation for everything I do.

I work primarily with strong, bright and energetic colors and patterns. I believe in passion, self-boldness and vivacity. Those strengths are expressed in my art and are at the very heart of feminism and how I think and feel as a woman. Color Crossing is a product of that - a 48-piece installation of 9” x 9” canvases. Color Crossing was on exhibit at the Woman Made Gallery (Chicago) in March 2011 during Women’s History Month. In summary, it is through the use of bright and brilliant colors that I hope to capture and, in turn, express in my artwork what is at the very core of feminism – strength, energy, confidence and passion.