Monique Kristofors

The Village Gallery of Local Artists is proud to feature the soul-evocative paintings of Monique Kristofors during the month of June. Please join us on June 3rd from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM to see Kristofors’ work and share our First Friday reception.

Born in Malaucene, France, and raised in Madrid, Spain. Kristofors attended school at a Spanish Convent until age 15. She was exposed to the European masters prior to immigrating to the U.S. at 16.    She loved to spend time at the Louvre and Prado Museums and was particularly attracted to Pablo Picasso’s work.  Since retiring from a successful career with the federal government and moving to Sedona with her husband Kris, Kristofors has focused on her art and on community service, applying her master’s in psychology to assist special needs students.  Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries in California and Arizona with a continually growing following of private collections

Kristofors is a largely self-taught American modern artist whose eclectic paintings and sculptures reflect her international roots.  Kristofors’ paintings bring different aspects of and dimensions of being to the canvas.  Her one-of-a-kind paintings and bold color palette reflect and recreate the universality of the human experience and emotions. Kristofors work is not only self-revealing but individually evocative.  In her quest to bring the human soul and its dimensions to the canvas, she creates paintings that deeply connect with and touch the viewer. Surrounded by the beauty of Sedona, she has begun to incorporate realism in her paintings while continuing her abstract flare.

Kristofors describes her paintings as her soul’s artistic expression of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Painting for her is a type of living journal.” I want to create a canvas of experiences and emotions that I believe we share, irrespective of our race, nationality, culture, political views, sex, or orientation They reflect how I see the world at any given moment and stage of my life journey. I believe that art is a way to connect with others, to help inspire, and understand, both what we have in common and how we differ.  What I paint is forever changing, evolving, and different.  My art, like myself, resists being tamed as it pursues its own impulse and expression. I want my paintings to touch and connect with the viewer’s soul.”

In recent years, Kristofors’ work has shifted from her head to her heart.   From creating abstract, analytical paintings, to creating paintings that evoke a more soulful, peaceful message.    The feelings of pain and helplessness that world current events evoke have moved her to create paintings that will evoke, peace, tranquility, and heartfelt emotions.

The” Shaman” symbolizes the need for the world to heal the things that divide us politically, that makes us hate, that create wars.” Open eyes” and “Nirvana” reflect Kristofors’ need to bring the viewer to shift from the pain that external events create in our lives, to centering us in our hearts, where love, joy, and compassion connect us and create hope.

The Village Gallery is located at 6512 State Route 179 in the Village of Oak Creek at the Cortez roundabout.  Please stop by to see Kristofors’ unique work as well as enjoy the work of 40 other local artists.  The Gallery is open 7 days a week from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Photos by Greg Griffin