Kira Frances

I create oil paintings to investigate the nature of truth. For my still life paintings, I set up the objects and alter their context just enough to suggest a dream-like landscape. For my more geometric paintings, I take an idea and deconstruct it, revealing the concept through the display of shapes and angles. I believe every painting has two stories: the one the artist is trying to tell, and the one the viewer receives. And while art may reference life, it is bound by an individual’s perception, which is always subjective.

Click on any image below to see an enlarged view.

I was raised in Europe, dividing my time between London and Italy. I formally began my training as an artist in London, studying at the Prince’s Drawing School until I completed my BA in Fine Art and Philosophy at Smith College in 2014. Upon graduating, I studied at Columbia University before I returned to London and over the course of four years, I worked in a graphic design studio and an artist’s apprentice, while also developing myself as a professional artist through my studies at the Heatherley School of Fine Art. I moved to Washington, DC in 2019 where I studied at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, exhibiting at the Chilean embassy and the Watergate Hotel.  

In 2021, I challenged myself by embarking upon a year-long outdoor expedition around the United States. I wanted to connect with myself and nature in a more meaningful way; to find where beauty met deep introspection. In the depths of the backcountry of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Narrows, and many other places, and after 800 miles of hiking that demanded my full physical and spiritual focus, I discovered that nature has the power to reveal the truth and will never fail to force a confrontation with reality.

Come find my work in person at The Stacks Gallery and Studio in Bend, where I am an artist in residence, and see my work online at my website and on Instagram.