About Kristina

My work is about finding joy in the urban environment. Kristina Hagman is a life-long oil painter and printmaker. Her work spans themes and mediums, but many are inspired by place, with a deep nostalgia and a commitment to landscape. 

Kristina had her first professional show at the age of 23 at the Arthur Elrod Gallery in Palm Springs. Her early work emulated the flowers painted by Georgia of O’Keefe. The lifestyle and beautiful landscapes of that early feminist artist led Kristina to move to O’Keefe’s New Mexico in order to find her own art path there. She soon met the generous artists of the John Slone Figurative Drawing group, all professional artists who helped her find her way.

Her life and art have taken her around the world, from Tokyo’s walls of color to the sloping overgrown freeways of the Pacific Northwest. While living in Seattle Kristina was inspired by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and his 36 views of Mount Fuji. Using the Japanese master as an exemplar, she created 36 Views of Mount Rainier though using western oil-based inks and wood block printing techniques.

Kristina now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, close to the great Potomac River. Her current work is dominated by landscapes and commissioned portraits.

Unconventional Education

As a child I sat painting next to my mother and grandmother who were all about making art. They helped me get my first exhibitions in Salon-style settings that were very successful. But it was in Santa Fe, New Mexico where my professional life truly began. It was an amazing environment in which to be an artist. Though it was a small town back in the early 1980s, there were hundreds of galleries. Galleries and art dealers from all over the world came to meet artists. My work was picked up for several out-of-town shows including in New York and Germany. Encouraged by my local mentors, I began to study in earnest and attended classes in art history at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and The College of Santa Fe. In the early 1990s I was juried into master classes at the Santa Fe Institute of Art and Design. At the institute I painted under master artists: Wayne Thiebaud, Nathan Oliveira, and Richard Diebenkorn. New Mexico was also a hub for fine art printmaking. I learned many printmaking techniques from Ron Pokrasso, who is at Timberwick Studio. I continued to learn the craft of printing while publishing my own works when I moved to Seattle with printmaker Sheila Coppola of Sidereal Press in Tukwila, Washington. In California I worked with Madeleine Zyarewicz of Panorama Press in Highland Park and Gloria Kondrup of Archetype Press in Pasadena.

In 2014, despite having dyslexia, I took on the challenge of writing a book about my wild and wonderful family. My work in Santa Monica College’s Learning Disabilities Program helped me in the process, and so did collaborating with author Elizabeth Kaye. My book was published in 2016 by Thomas Dunne Books.

 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024 “40 Years of Art Making,” Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Alexandria, Virginia 

2017 Printmaker Inc., Alexandria, Virgina

2016 Bone Black Gallery, Austin, Texes

2015 Roby King Galleries, Bainbridge Island, Washington

2012 Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California

2011 Ronald Tutor Campus Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

2011 Senior Arts Foundation Popup Gallery, Los Angeles, California

2011, 2010 Cullom Gallery, Seattle, Washington

2010 Sidereal Fine Art Press, Tukwila, Washington

2010 Kinsey Gallery, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington

2010 Robby King, Bainbridge Island, Washington

2009 Woodinville City Hall, Woodinville, Washington

2009, 2007 Antioch University, Seattle, Washington

2008, 2003 ACE Gallery, Seattle, Washington

2004 Studio 84 West, Ojai, California

2004 Nino Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

1999, 2001 Bailey Boushay House, Seattle, Washington

2000 The Miner Gallery, Seattle, Washington

1998, 1999 Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, Washington

1988 Germany American Airlines Sponsored Exhibition, Das Fenster Gallery, Cologne, Frankfurt, Germany

1988 Jessica Darraby Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1986, 1987 Whitney Gallery, Cocoa Beach, Florida

1983 Thomason Gallery, Fort Worth, Texas

1982 Country Art Gallery, Long Island, New York

1981 Arthur Elrod Gallery, Palm Springs, California

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024SNAP POP FLASH!: Joan Agajanian Quinn’s Instamatic Exploits!,” Legacy West Media Gallery, Los Angeles, California

2024 “Landscape: Serene and Savage,” Modern Visual Arts Gallery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

2023 Athenaeum, Potomac River Life, Alexandria, Virginia

2020 Virginia Beach Art Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia

2016 Printmakers Inc., Alexandria, Virginia

2017 “Press On!,” Hangar South Gallery, Santa Monica, California

2015 “National Works on Paper Exhibition,” Brand Library and Arts Center, Glendale, California

2015 The 101st Annual Member Show, California Society of Printmakers, Grey Loft Gallery, Oakland, California

2014 “Last Hurrah to the Blue Whale,” West Hollywood, California

2014 “Venice Under the Influence,” Venice, California

2013 “The Floating World,” The Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, Idaho

2012 “Man, Machine and Nature,” Sisson Gallery, MacKenzie Fine Art Center, Dearborn, Michigan

2012 “Celebration of Washington Artists,” Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington

2012 “Currents: Seattle Print Arts Exhibition,” The Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

2012 “Creative Block Show,” Seattle, Washington

2011 “Joan Agajanian Quinn Portraits,” Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, California

2011 Los Angeles Printmaking Society Members Juried Exhibition, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, California

2011 All Media Juried Show, Chase Gallery, Spokane City Hall, Spokane Washington

2011 “Inspired By The West,” University House, Wallingford, Washington

2011 “Moku Hanga Kites,” KIWA Kyoto International Woodprint Association, Kyoto, Japan

2011 First Annual Moku Hanga Conference, Kyoto, Japan

2010 “Ten: Juried Print Exhibit,” Seattle Print Arts at the Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington

2010 Print Invitational Show, Roby King Gallery, Bainbridge, Washington

2010 Juried Print Exhibition, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, California

2010 Cullom Gallery, Seattle Washington

2009 “Northwest Emerging Artists,” Seattle City Light Portable Works, Seattle Washington

2009 20th National Exhibition, The Los Angeles Printmaking Society, Los Angeles, California

2009 “Boston Printmakers 2009 North American Print Biennial,” Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

2009 EDGE Program Group Show, Edmonds, Washington

2008 Print Artist Showcase, University House Issaquah, Issaquah, Washington

2007 Florence Biennale, Firenze, Italy

2004 “Local Color,” Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington

2002, 2003 ACE Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

2000 “Artists Making Prints,” Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

1997 “From the Heart,” Klein-Lewallen Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1991, 1995, 1997 “The Magnificent Subject,” College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1995 “Departures and Disclosures,” David Rettig Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1994, 1995 Hahn-Ross Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 Monothon, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1987, 1986, 1991 Summer Exhibition, Institute of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1987, 1988 “Valentine’s Show,” Sonoma State University, Sonoma, California

1988 Portrait Show, Otis Parson Museum, Los Angeles, California

1988 “The Cow Show,” Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1986 “Hollywood,” Otis Parsons Museum, Los Angeles, California

1986 Human Figure Show, Stables Gallery, Taos, New Mexico

1986 Susan Blanchard Galleries, New York, New York

1986 Mills Gallery, Aspen, Colorado

1985, 1986 Whitney Gallery, Cocoa Beach, Florida

1985 “Woman in Art,” Susan Blanchard Galleries, New York, New York

 

Awards

1999 Recipient of the Joseph Stella Scholarship to live and paint in Italy, Centro Culturale Franco-Italiano, Muro Lucano, Italy

 

Collections

Complete Set: “36 Views of Mount Rainier,” promised gift to Cynthia Sears, Bainbridge Art Museum

2009 Commission by Doctor Salvatore Pagliuca, Mosaic Steps to the National Archeological Museum (based on “Sonnet XIII” by Ludovico Ariosto, poet of the 1500s), Muro Lucano, Italy

Seattle City Light, Seattle, Washington

Group Health Cooperative, Bellevue, Washington

Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, Washington

The Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico

First National Bank, Weatherford, Texas

Gannett Corporation, Alexandria, Virginia

Bridget Fonda, Los Angeles, California

Joan Agajanian Quinn, Los Angeles, California

Howard Tullman, Chicago, Illinois

 

Other

2014 Woodblock presentation, Pacific Asian Museum, Pasadena, California

2012 Member of Seattle Print Arts, Artist Trust, Los Angeles Printmaking Society and California Society of Printmakers, California

2003, 2002 Art Teacher, Youth Program, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington

2003, 2002, 2001 Painting Teacher, Stevens Elementary School, Seattle, Washington

2001 Lecturer, Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, California

1992, 1995 Artist Lecturer, “Women of the West: Recursions,” Smithsonian Museum Art Tour, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1986 Curator of “Dragon Art,” Armory for the Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1985 Guest Lecturer, “Figure Drawing,” College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

Publications

October 2015 Closer Magazine

2009 “36 Views of Mount Rainier,” Daniel Smith Catalog

2004 Ventura County Star, California

2004 Ojai Valley News, California

Spring 1993 Apex # 17, Germany

June 1991 The New Mexican, New Mexico

January 1988 Los Angeles Herald Examiner, California

January 1988 Los Angeles Times, California

January 1988 Beverly Hills 213, California

September 1987 Florida Today, Florida

Summer 1987 “Voices Edition,” Santa Fe Reporter, New Mexico

September 1986 Florida Today, Florida

August 1986 U.S.A. Today

June 1986 The New Mexican, New Mexico

Spring 1986 Ranch and Coast, California

April 1983 Fort Worth Star Telegram, Texas

June 1982 U.S. Magazine

May 1982 Long Island Today’s Times, New York

May 1982 New York Newsday, New York

May 1982 Miami Herald, Florida

April 1981 People Magazine

February 1981 New York Post, New York

Kristina Hagman