Elizabeth Holden Gallery’s exhibition Spaces…in between featuring the work of Kristine Hunter will be on view at Warren Wilson College from October 22nd to December 5th, 2026. The exhibition opening reception is on October 22nd from 4:30-6:00 PM.  The Elizabeth Holden Gallery is open M-F, 10-4 pm and most Saturdays 1-4pm.

Artist Statement

From an early age, I was fascinated by human anatomy books, particularly their transparent pages that revealed the body layer by layer—skeleton, muscles, organs, each distinct yet inseparable from the whole. This early fascination with the visible and hidden layers of the body continues to shape my artistic practice.

My work explores identity, memory, belonging, and the continual process of constructing and deconstructing the self. I view our experiences as layers that accumulate within us, shaping who we become while remaining connected to what came before. The body becomes both a subject and a material—a place where physical, emotional, and personal histories intersect.

Working across image, video, sound, sculpture, installation, and performance, I create sensory experiences that invite viewers to become active participants. My practice has increasingly evolved toward live body art, site-specific, and durational performance, where the body is present as a living, vulnerable, and transformative material.

Through endurance, repetition, stillness, movement, and interaction with place, I explore how time and environment can reveal what lies beneath the surface. Whether working with objects, images, or the physical body, I am interested in moments of exposure and transformation—when one layer gives way to another.

Ultimately, my work considers the body as archive, vessel, landscape, and site of continual becoming.

Bio

Kristine Hunter is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the complexities of memory and identity through a dynamic blend of site specific and durational performance art, photography, sculpture, and installation. With a diverse educational background spanning fine arts, fashion design, and women’s studies, Kristine brings a unique and multifaceted perspective to her artistic practice. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree and a Women’s Studies Certificate from Stony Brook University, New York, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Oregon, School of Architecture and Allied Arts. In addition, she has pursued specialized studies in fashion design, earning a Certificate from the Paris Fashion Institute and an Associate of Science in Fashion Design from Plaza Three Academy in Phoenix, Arizona.

Through site-responsive and durational practices presented in Spain, Norway, Ireland, and the United States, alongside her residencies and exhibitions in France, her work demonstrates an expanding international dialogue between body, place, memory, and cultural landscape. These projects position her practice within a broader contemporary performance and visual arts context, connecting intimate personal narratives with the histories and identities embedded within specific places.

Her international trajectory is further underscored by prestigious Artist-in-Residence appointments at Château d’Orquevaux in France in 2020 and 2022, where she was honored with the Denis Diderot Award. During these residencies, she created the sculptures jouissance and the red one, both of which are now part of the Château’s permanent collection.

Currently, Hunter serves as Art Faculty and Fine Arts Coordinator at Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan, where she curates two on-campus galleries, manages and procures art for the Bay College Art collection.