Kristin Quinn
Professor, Department of Art

medium: painting

education:
INDIANA UNIVERSITY, Bloomington, IN., M.F.A. - Painting, 1988
TYLER SCHOOL OF ART, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA., B.F.A, Painting, 1984

about my work: 
I grew up in a house of optical phenomena. My father was a physicist with a specialty in optics (although neighbors claimed he worked at the Optical Department at Sears). Lasers, lenses, prisms, and holographswere plentiful; as were lessons on the natural world. In our house, a solar eclipse became a graduate level seminar. On long car trips, we passed the time with questions to stump Dad: Why was the sky orange, what caused hail, and how were tunnels built under the bay? (Incidentally, we refer to these questions now as "Tunnel Talk "questions).

Paintings for me start with questions like those of "Tunnel Talk" times. What is the color of amber, iron-ore, pollen? How can wind and water be suggested? The paintings gradually grow in layers. In the strata ofpaint the shape of a microscopic protein hovers beneath a planet's elliptical orbit and decorative ironwork cancels out dense foliage. It is these strange alliances between the common and uncommon, natural and synthetic that I find compelling to paint. The compressions, connections, and contradictions of the layers shape the personality of the painting.

This knotted, painted combination forces a continual shift of attention among the many levels. I compare this to a single moment in landscape and the competing levels of activity. When I stand on Devonian limestone on the levee of the Mississippi, the barges and riverboats pass, herons fly, behind, a train noisily rumbles by and streetlights flicker on, the smell of diesel fuel wafts by while rain clouds build. It's the density of this kind of experience that continues to raise questions and excite me as a painter.

professional experience: 
Professor, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, 1989 - present
Visiting Professor, University of Texas, El Paso, TX, 1988 - 1989

awards/fellowships:
1998, 1995, 1992
Rock Island Art Guild, Rock Island, IL, Second Place Award

1992
Sioux City Arts Center, 51st Juried Exhibition., Sioux City, IA, Jurors Commendation

1991
Davenport Museum of Art, Special Commendation Award

recent exhibitions and invitational shows:
2002
Summer Triennial, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA

2001
Morrissey Gallery, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA

2000
Gere/Dismer Architectural Firm, Rock Island, IL

2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1992, 1987
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL

1998
Iowa Artists Exhibition, Anniversary Celebration, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

collections: 
Mitsubishi Bank
Monmouth College
Augustana College
Horton Fine Arts

Art Department Home

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Kristin Quinn
Attractors for a Coupled Pendulum, 2005-05
oil on canvas
72" x 60"

Kristin Quinn
Begin the Beguine, 2005
oil on canvas
72" x 60"

Kristin Quinn
Exploring the Upper Air, 2004-05
oil on canvas
72" x 60"

Kristin Quinn
Sky Determines, 2004-05
oil on canvas
72" x 60"

Kristin Quinn
Volcanic Clouds, 2004
oil on canvas
60" x 48"