Kia ora, I’m Kris - a painter and printmaker based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. My work is rooted in memory, place, and the quiet poetry of everyday life.

I work from my home studio in Waltham, having spent many years living more rurally in North Canterbury. Alongside my studio practice, I’ve always loved connecting with others through creative community — teaching, collaborating, or simply sharing in the beauty of making.

Thank you for being here — I hope you find something that speaks to you.

Artist Biography:

Kris Waldin is a painter and printmaker based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Her work explores memory, connection, and the quiet beauty of everyday experience - often drawing from the natural world, sacred geometry, and the emotional landscapes of place.

Originally trained in graphic design and illustration (Diploma in Visual Communication, CPIT, 1992), Kris began painting in 2010. Her early work focused on acrylic and oil landscapes and botanical studies, many inspired by the rivers and forests of North Canterbury. Her drypoint etchings, featuring heirlooms, birds, and found objects, reflect a deep reverence for domestic histories and the tactile imprint of memory.

Alongside this foundation in observational and representational work, Kris’s practice continues to evolve toward a more intuitive and spiritual language. Recent series such as The In-between explore ideas of transformation, presence, and sacred space through poured water media, embossed forms, and geometric motifs — circles, vesica piscis, and the Flower of Life. Her botanical gel plate monotypes offer another way into these themes, recording impressions of foraged leaves and flowers with sensitivity and spontaneity.

She is currently represented by Art Box Gallery and Oxford Gallery, and her work has appeared in exhibitions throughout Aotearoa, including the Cleveland National Art Awards, Depot Artspace, and Stoddart Cottage. In 2019, Kris was commissioned by Icon Communications for Avis’ Art of Discovery campaign, with works exhibited on billboards at major New Zealand airports.

Kris was a resident artist in the Open House project at Oxford Gallery in 2020, and continues to exhibit with the Openhouse Printmakers. She has also contributed as a gallery assistant, tutor, and designer within her community.

Her work now moves more fully into abstraction and subtle spiritual inquiry — guided by colour, energy, and the cycles of the natural world. Across media and motif, she seeks moments of stillness, wonder, and reconnection.

Publications:

PROOF - Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand, Massey University Press
Image: Gran’s Teaset and Pearls

Exhibitions (selected):

Group Show Cloisters Gallery, Christchurch Arts Centre, 2010

Arts in Oxford Group Show, May 2012

Peninsula Figures in the Landscape, Solo show, Chambers Gallery, Rangiora, May 2015

Limbs, Solo show, Arts in Oxford Gallery, October 2015

Art in a Garden 2016

Accumulative Group Show, Arts in Oxford, Oct 2016

Cleveland National Art Awards, Dunedin 2017

From the Rivers to the Shore, Group Print Exhibition, Arts in Oxford, Depot Artspace Auckland, 2017

Pegasus Bay Art Show Oct 2017

Sanctuary, group exhibition, Artists Against Slavery, Arts in Oxford 2017

Castle Hill Biennial Easter Art Exhibition 2018

Avis ‘Art of Discovery’ commissions Banks Peninsula 2019

Near and Far, solo show, Arts in Oxford, Feb 2019

Peninsula Art Auction, Lyttelton, May 2019

Openhouse Printmakers Artist Residency, Oxford Gallery, 2020

Print Council of NZ Postcards Exhibition, 2021

Art Box 10 Year Anniversary Show, 2021

Openhouse Printmakers Group Show – New Works, Oxford Gallery, October 2021

Body Language Group Show, Art on the Quay, Kaiapoi 2022

Peninsula Art Auction 2023

Oxford Summer Show 2023/24

Darfield Artwork 2024 - Runner Up Award

Artbox 30 x 30 show 2024 - Gordon Harris Award

Otautahi Prints 2024 - Inaugural print fair

The In-between group show, 1-26 January 2025, Stoddart Cottage Gallery

Cleveland National Art Awards 2025