Artist Statement: Painting is my escape and salvation. I am fully invested, putting my whole self in each work through gesture, will and introspection. As a painter and mixed media artist, I am drawn to a Baroque sensibility using color theory, repetition and pattern and design. I am inspired by artists such as Beatriz Milhazes, Miriam Schapiro, Helen Frankenthaler and Gerhard Richter. Bio: Kristine Schomaker is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, publisher and mentor living and working at the Brewery artist complex in Los Angeles, California. She earned her Masters in Studio Art from California State University at Northridge where she studied under Samantha Fields and Alexandra Grant. In 2014 Kristine founded Shoebox PR, a support network that focuses on creating community and offering mentorship and resources to artists. Kristine is also the publisher of Art and Cake a contemporary L.A. Art Magazine focusing on underrepresented artists and exhibitions. Exhibiting her work since the late 1990’s, Kristine has been featured in numerous exhibitions including most recently, group shows at Golden West College, Coastline Community College, Keystone Art Space, LAVA Projects, San Diego Art Institute, Launch LA, Surrogate Projects, 18th Street Art Center, Durden and Ray, USC Keck, Blue Roof Studios, Monte Vista Proejcts, Finishing Concepts, PØST, Brainworks Gallery, BLAM, MuseuMM; Torrance Art Museum, I-5 Gallery, Angel City Brewery. She has also had these solo exhibitions: “Plus” at Ark Gallery in Altadena and Moorpark Community College, “Mirror, Mirror!” Gallery H Phantom Galleries LA, Hawthorne, California, “A Comfortable Skin,” Kerckhoff Hall Art Gallery UCLA, presented by UCLA Cultural Arts Commission, Los Angeles, California and “Ce n’est pas une peinture,” TRACTIONARTS, Los Angeles, California.