My paintings and mixed media pieces begin with feelings; emotions so visceral they are physically felt. These bodily experiences lead me inward, where I grapple with my mental illness, identity and personal history. Sometimes my motivation is simply an intense, chaotic rush of meaningfulness that only I can sense. Or a sweet moment to be savored, like my child’s small arms wrapped around my neck; A love or a longing that makes my blood hum. In life and art, I ride the weather until it passes.
When painting, I often begin with a wash of hot color like orange or magenta. I use Pyrrole Orange especially, because of its energy and heat. These hot grounds are the inner cores of my paintings. I stabilize these fiery bases with the blues of water and sky. Sometimes I pave over them with inky grays, purples and greens so dark they are almost black. Nevertheless this hot lifeblood peeks out from beneath so many of my paintings, reminding me it’s always there. It’s easy to assume that the use of bright colors indicate joy or effervescence. For me bright, bold colors represent the intensity and, often, discomfort of the mental and physical states I experience. A clashing of worlds
From the tumultuous energy of my bold brush strokes and energetic marks imagery emerges: hands grasping or figures in a state of struggle or surrender. Careful color choices define the space of my paintings and build spaces within them; fragile places that seem balanced on the precipice of motion, or even catastrophe. A similar struggle ensues with my mixed media pieces: the recognizable is subsumed by chaos only to be overtaken by the precision of a found object, rooting the piece in reality again.
Krista Dedrick-Lai is a visual artist whose work is rooted in emotions, bodily experiences and identity. Storms swirl and figures struggle (or surrender) in Krista’s paintings, as they navigate chaotic environments. After earning her BFA from Tyler School of Art, Krista made Philadelphia her home and now lives and works just steps from the Italian Market with her husband and young son. Her work has been shown in a number of Philadelphia galleries, across the country and in virtual spaces such as I Like Your Work, Dear Artists and Stay Home Gallery. Recently Krista’s work was included in the exhibition Painting at Night organized by The Artist Mother Network, curated by Melanie Cooper Pennington and hosted by Artlink Contemporary Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 2021 a poster Krista created in collaboration with Mural Arts and Streets Dept was collected by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
2021
NYC Crit Club
Studied under Andrew Prayzner, Nora Griffin, Kris Rac and Catherine Haggerty
2002
Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
BFA, Painting, Drawing and Sculpture, Minor: Art History
2001
Temple University Rome, Rome, Italy
2017
Puffin Foundation Ltd., Teaneck, NJ
2022
Stay Home Gallery and Residency, Paris, TN
2021
"Phases," Dear Artists Projects, exhibition catalogue, page 18, March, 2021
Benner, Conrad, "10 policies Biden must pass in his first 100 days, drawn by Philly artists," The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 24, 2021
Mural Arts Staff, "First 100 Days," Mural Arts, Philadelphia, January 25, 2021
2018
Glasper, Janyce Denise, “The Common Room, a gallery, work space and store for womxnand non-binary artists, turns one", The Artblog, September 6, 2018
Krieger, Deborah, "Best of the Worst, a Lively Show of Rejects at Practice Gallery", The Artblog, July 19, 2018
Catalyst Collective New Orleans, "PoliticoPopUp3 Catalog"
2016
Catalyst Collective New Orleans, PoliticoPopUp2 Catalog
(catalogue)
Underground Art Magazine, Political and Pop Culture 2016 Issue, December 2016, Digital.
2017
Kaplan, Karen B., Curiosity Seekers, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 2017
(cover)
Free Immigrant Families, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Acquired 2021
Bright Future, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Pediatric Department, New York, NY
Acquired 2017
2021
First 100 Days, Philadelphia, PA
Sponsored by Streets Dept and Mural Arts Philadelphia
Member, InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA
Member, Thrive Art Studio, Vancouver, Canada
2020
The Mill, Wilmington, DE
2003
The Quiet Storm, Pittsburgh, PA
2019
Here and There, InLiquid at The National Old City, Philadelphia, PA
2017
Splash Page, Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro, Philadelphia, PA
2021
Painting at Night, Artist Mother Podcast/ Artlink Contemporary Gallery, Ft Wayne IN
Inward, Stay Home Gallery, Online Exhibition
Phases, Dear Artists, Virtual Exhibition (catalogue)
2020
Congruence, I Like Your Work, Virtual Exhibition
Artists in the Time of Coronavirus, The Artblog, Philadelphia PA, Virtual Exhibition
Transformation, High Five Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Politics of Home, Vacant Museum, Virtual Exhibition
2019
Small Works 2019 Online Exhibition, Trestle Gallery, New York NY
Personal Psychology, Emerge Wellness, Philadelphia PA
2018
Best of the Worst, Practice Gallery, Philadelphia PA
2017
Where We Are, Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck NJ
2016
Envisioning Election and Politics in 2016, Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck NJ
Philadelphia 2076, Space 1026, Philadelphia PA
