Mosaics: Into the Light

Artist Bio

Kristin Javier is perhaps an unlikely artist. Born in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, her favorite childhood memories were formed alongside her five siblings, hiking through woods, racing barefoot in the grass, and scouring the creek bed for fossils.

Her path eventually led her to the University of New Mexico, where she studied to be a teacher and a translator of Spanish and Italian. Though she couldn't bear to leave the Land of Enchantment at the time, opportunity and family pulled her back East. After decades away, she has come full circle, returning to the place that first captivated and inspired her.

Between 2017 and 2018, while raising two daughters, a life-changing brain infection forced her to forge a new path, literally putting one foot in front of the other. It was through this arduous recovery that she discovered the healing power of art. Supported by her family, friends, and a vibrant artist community, she has spent the last six years in a daily practice. Kristin remains a perpetual student of Mosaic, constantly in pursuit of what she has yet to understand. She strives to walk by faith, believing that every person possesses a unique light to shine.

Today, she splits creative time between the high desert of Northern New Mexico and the green Hudson Valley, walking in gratitude and weaving the light of both landscapes into her work.

Artist Statement

I speak in dialects of brokenness and light. Mosaic becomes a metaphor for restoration.

My practice is a dialogue between the visions in my mind, the hammer, and the stone.

My process is deeply rooted in ancient methods.

I ask each tessera to break using only hand tools, cutting each piece with a carbide tipped hammer and a pitched anvil called a hardie.

I place each fragment directly into thinset tinted with earth oxides. I allow each shard to stand as its own sculpture, possessing the power to reflect, refract, or absorb light.

Initially self-taught using broken ceramic shards, I eventually sought the rigor of Classical training at Studio Arte del Mosaico in Ravenna Italy and The Chicago Mosaic School.

My work is an exploration of the mystical, and a manifestation of the resilience of the human spirit.

Every Mosaic created over the past six years represents a step in my healing journey toward the light.

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Host or Publisher Aurelia Gallery