Artist Statement
A first-generation Dutch, third-generation Italian American, and native Californian now living and creating on a farm in rural South Carolina, contemplation permeates Sloan’s work as she pursues the visualization of the invisible. Her Neo-Baroque oil paintings and sculptures employ elements such as still life, portals, fabric folds, and reflective surfaces as symbolic devices, inviting viewers to contemplate themes of self-awareness and the illusionary nature of reality.
Sloan’s familial roots in the American Southwest, the coastal landscape of Northern California, and iconography from her Roman Catholic upbringing inform her visual language. Light is symbolic, and like mirrors, water, and reflections in Baroque painting, form and composition take on anthropomorphic characteristics and serve as conduits for depicting essences, energies, and forces.
Sloan’s concentric forms probe the divine, explore the complexities of the human interior, unearth transcendence in the mundane, and reimagine religious narratives and visionary encounters. While consciousness, mystery, and awe are her guiding principles, she infuses her work with current events, cultural climates, interweaving her research into scientific revelations on nature’s deep design with contemplative faith studies.
Integrating old-master techniques with modern-day media processes like tracing contemplative body movements with AI digital blending, Sloan offers glimpses into the profound interconnectedness of humanity, exploring ancient narratives through a contemporary lens, in order to evoke the unseen realities we too often ignore.
Bio
Kristen van Diggelen Sloan is a contemporary American artist exploring the complexities of the human interior through large-scale Neo-Baroque oil paintings and sculptures. Sloan received her BA in Visual Art from UCLA in 2006, and her MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009 where she received the prestigious Graduate Fellowship in Painting. She has exhibited her work nationally at John Michael Studio for Art Basel, Miami, Art Chicago, the New Wright Gallery in Los Angeles, at The Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, The Diego Rivera Gallery in San Francisco and in Charlotte, NC at The McColl Center for the Arts, Anne Neilson Fine Art, The Brooklyn Collective and SOZO Gallery. Sloan taught Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute and has received numerous awards and nominations. She is currently a 2024 Sacred Arts Fellow at The Grünewald Guild. Her work has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Luxe Interiors + Design and 7×7 Magazine among many others. She relocated from San Francisco to the Carolinas in 2014, and currently lives and works on a farm in rural South Carolina.
CV
EDUCATION
2009 The San Francisco Art Institute — Master of Fine Art, Painting
2006 University of California, Los Angeles — Bachelor of Arts, Visual Art
2004 Lorenzo de Medici School, Florence, Italy — Painting and Ceramic Restoration
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022-2023 Shadowork, John Michael Studio, Miami, FL
2022 Battlescapes and Illuminations, Dalton Gallery, Arts Council of York County, Rock Hill, SC
2011 The Beat Playground, Google Headquarters, San Francisco, CA
2010 Salon I, The Cottage Industry Painting Salon, San Francisco, CA
2009 Paintings, Hope and Grace, Napa Valley, CA
2008 The Best I’ve Ever Had, Art Engine Gallery, San Francisco, CA (two person show)
2006 The Confinement Series, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 ArtFields, Lake City, SC
2023-2024 [RE], Brooklyn Collective, Charlotte, NC
2023 At the Root, SOZO Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2021 Deconstructing Reconstruction, The Brooklyn Collective, Charlotte, NC
2021 Coup D’état, John Michael Studio, Art Basel, Miami, FL
2021 8th Catholic Arts Biennial, Verostko Center for the Arts, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA. Juror: David Brinker
2020 31st Annual Juried Competition, Arts Council of York County, Rock Hill, SC. Juror: David M. Detrich
2019 McColl Member Show, The McColl Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
2018 McColl Center Alumni + Local Artist Showcase, Anne Neilson Fine Art, Charlotte, NC
2013 Translocura: Art at the Brink of Madness, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2013 Overturn the Artifice, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2012 MarinMOCA 2012 Fall National Juried Exhibition, MarinMoca, Juror: Renny Pritikin
2011 Taste – A Garden of Earthly Delights, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2011 Call and Response, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2010 The Garden Show, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 New Insight, Next, Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2009 Liberating Landscapes, Togonon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Vernissage, San Francisco Art Institute MFA Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2008 Site and Situation, Clara Street Projects, San Francisco, CA
2008 The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 Kinross High, UCLA Senior Exhibition, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 UCLA Juried Exhibition, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
AWARDS, RESIDENCIES and GRANTS
2024 Distinguished Visiting Artist, Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, AR
2024 Sacred Arts Fellowship and Residency, Grünewald Guild, Leavenworth, WA
2022 ARIM – Artist Residency in Motherhood, Virtual
2020 ArtPop Street Gallery Billboard Finalist, Charlotte, NC
2013 Professional Development Grant, Creative Capacity Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation
2011 Nomination for the San Francisco Artist Award, Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco
2007-2009 The San Francisco Art Institute MFA Graduate Fellowship in Painting (full scholarship)
2009 Nomination for the Headlands Center for the Arts Graduate Fellowship
2009 Nomination for the Ella King Torrey Award
LECTURES and COMMUNITY
2024 Juror: 36th Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
2022 – 2024 Co-Founder, BakhitaArts (grassroots community arts organization)
2021 Juror: 43rd Annual Springfest Judged Show and Competition, Moorseville Arts, Moorseville, NC
2019 Stimulus: Origins, The McColl Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC (panel discussion)
2013 JayDeFeo Community Tribute, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (lecture)
TEACHING and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019 Ceramics Workshop – The McColl Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
2012 Pre-College Painting Faculty – The San Francisco Art Institute
2011 Pre-College Painting Faculty – The San Francisco Art Institute
2009 – 2011 Director/Founder – The Cottage Industry Painting Salon, San Francisco, CA (project space and gallery)
2009 – 2013 Art Instructor – Cornerstone Academy High School, San Francisco, CA
2008 Graduate Assistant – Art History: 1960 to Present, The San Francisco Art Institute
2008 Teacher’s Assistant – Painting II & III, The San Francisco Art Institute
2008 Teaching Practicum – The San Francisco Art Institute
2008 Intern – Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 – 2006 Intern, The Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
PUBLICATIONS
“Lasting Imprints,” Monique McIntosh, LUXE Interiors + Design, May/June edition, 2021
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 47 & 48, Summer 2021
“The Artist’s Way,” Sunny Hubler, QC Exclusive, No. 70, September/October 2020
“A Good Steward,” Liza Carrasquillo, QC Exclusive, No. 67, June 2020
“Bowled Over,” Alison Clare Steingold, C Home Magazine, September 14, 2014
“Portfolio: Kristen van Diggelen,” Richard Whittaker, Works and Conversations, Volume No. 27, published by Society of for the ReCognition of Art, November 2013
“Overturn the Artifice,” Mark Van Proyen, Art Practical, March 26, 2013
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 15 /16, Fall 2011
“Her Initials Are Carved Here, Too: A painter returns to a storied building,” Jerome Tarshis, The New Fillmore, May 2011
“Corporeal Existence,” Gloria Balderas, Synchronized Chaos (online edition at http://synchchaos.com), February 7, 2011
“An Artist Finds a Muse and a Legend,” Kristen van Diggelen, The New Fillmore, February 2010
“SF Art Institute: 2009 MFA Graduate Exhibition,” Drew Altizer, 7×7 Magazine (online edition on 7×7.com), June 3, 2009
“Freshly Varnished And Ready for Their Close Up,” JD Beltran, San Francisco Chronicle (online edition at sfgate.com), May 20, 2009
“New Art from Fresh Minds,” JD Beltran, San Francisco Chronicle (online edition at sfgate.com), April 23, 2009