Biography

KRISTIN RAE CRONIC

b. 1988 — Jacksonville, Florida

Born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, Kristin began her artistic journey at night while serving as an officer in the United States Navy. While experiencing the confinement of living on a ship at sea months at a time, Kristin yearned for a feeling of freedom, space, and rootedness. In response, she turned to plants and earth forms as a primary source of comfort. The silent wisdom they offered was boon to her personal self discovery within an institution that demanded the sublimation of the self to the great whole.

She received her MFA in Visual Art from Jacksonville University in 2022 and currently lives and works in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and three children. She teaches at Jacksonville University as a Drawing Professor. She is represented by Stellers Gallery (Jacksonville) .

Recent solo exhibitions include the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, the United States Pentagon, and the United States Naval Academy Museum. Recent group shows include Pocket Utopia in NY, NY, the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, and Number Inc’s 2024 “Art of the South” group exhibition at Stoveworks Gallery in Chattanooga, TN. She was a recipient of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Individual Artist Grant Recipient for the 2024-2025 cycle. And in November, 2025, she illustrated the Google Doodle for Veterans Day.

Artist Statement

I create large scale gestural paintings of nature forms. The live oaks of my birthplace, uprooted tree carcasses, and rock formations magnify the immense and fleeting emotional weight to which I am responding. I begin with observation but ultimately excavate from these static forms the emotional underpinnings of existence I often want to hide from, such as anguish, uncertainty, intrigue, and even that effervescent bubbling of joy. Nature’s disregard for these states returns them to just another aspect of being alive.

My process layers contour drawing, fluid acrylic washes, and intuitive oil markmaking. Painting is a medium that allows me to catch the evidence of full body movement, as if it’s catching a moment. The scale of my work demands spatial commitment, which acts as a declaration of physical and emotional space, something I often resist occupying outside the studio.

I approach color with a restrained palette and in the making, shake it off balance with unexpected hues. Compositions push toward extreme perspective, creating confrontational angles with the forms. Personally specific titles open the interpretations into more universal themes.

My practice references the female abstract expressionists of the 1940’s, in particular Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Elaine de Kooning. These women liberated the form into emotion and color. Studying their work opened my observational painting to emphasize playfulness and honesty. Jenny Saville’s maternal figures hold unrelenting candidness and take up space. When I see trees, I often see mothers. Cecily Brown’s emotional interior spaces changed the way I think about a scene surrounding the viewer.

I tend to hide from the parts of myself that are hardest to hold. I paint in order to stand in the spectrum of those things without having to resolve them.

Cirriculum Vitae

Education

2022 MFA in Visual Art, Jacksonville University

2011 BS in Naval Architecture, United States Naval Academy

Exhibitions, Awards, and Grants:

2026 “Physique” (Group Exhibition). Kai Lin Art, curated by Luke Hamilton. July - September, 2026. Atlanta, GA.

Curated into U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Art in Embassies, initially acquired in 2023. View details.

“A Multi-Scalar Habitat” (Group Exhibition). Curated and arranged by Austin Thomas of Pocket Utopia. Peep Space Gallery, Tarrytown, NY.

“skin\bones” (Solo Exhibition). Touche Gallery. January 2026. Jacksonville, Florida.

Faculty Biennial Exhibition (Group Exhibition). Alexander Brest Gallery at Jacksonville University. November 2025- January 2026. Jacksonville, Florida.

2025 Veterans Day Google Doodle Selected Artist. Featured November 11, 2025. https://doodles.google/doodle/veterans-day-2025/

“Mother:Nature,” (Three Person Exhibition) Lorenzo Swinton Gallery. Curated by Lorenzo Swinton. October, 2025. Clarkesville, Tennessee.

Public Art Commission, Gables Riverwalk. Curated by ATP.art. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 2025. Project Information.

Fall Exhibition (Three Person Exhibition), Thrasher Horne Center. Orange Park, Florida.

Women Arts Exchange (Group Exhibition), Jacksonville, Fl.

2024 Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Individual Artist Grant Recipient.https://culturalcouncil.org/grantmaking/ccgj-grant-programs/artist-grants/

“Art of the South” (Group Exhibition), Stove Work Gallery and Number:Inc Magazine. Chattanooga, TN

Pocket Utopia, New York, NY. (Two Person Exhibition) Show with Alyssa E. Fanning.

Jacksonville University Faculty Biennial (Group Exhibition), Alexander Brest Gallery. Fall 2024. Jacksonville, FL

2023 A Midshipman’s Journey (Solo Exhibition), National Veterans Memorial Museum, Columbus, OH

Group Collection: “Democracy”, Art in Embassies, with the United States Naval Academy.

2022-2023 “Beyond A Midshipman’s Journey”, Solo Exhibition, United States Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

2021 “A Midshipman’s Journey” (Solo Exhibition), United States Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD

MFA “In the Works”, Group Show, Alexander Brest Gallery, Jacksonville, FL

“Coastal Forest,” Two Person Exhibition with Theresa Rycaszewski, Beaches Museum. Jacksonville, FL

2019 (Solo Show) St. Johns Cathedral, “Canopies,” Part 1. Jacksonville, FL.

(Solo Show) Jewish Community Alliance, “Canopies,” Part 2. Jacksonville, FL.

Commissions and Collaborations:

2026 Mural with Bridge Muralist team at EVO. Jacksonville, FL

Baptist Healthplace Silverleaf. Saint Johns, FL

Baptist Healthplace Seven Pines. Jacksonville, FL

2025 Gables Riverwalk, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Teaching:

2022- 2026 Adjunct Professor, Drawing, Jacksonville University. Jacksonville, FL

2023-2024 National Veterans Memorial and Museum, Columbus, Ohio: Guest Artist Teacher, Adult and Family art classes.

Publications + Features :

2025 Google Doodle, Veterans Day

2026 skin\bones in PV Recorder, January Issue

2021 Capitol Gazette, June Issue

2019 The Savvy Painter Podcast, May Episode

2026 Bridge Muralists + EVO, July Issue