Shakti Kroopkin

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shaktikroopkin.com

505.603.5225

Shakti Kroopkin’s creative practice blends urban and natural influences, harnessing both spiritual energy and sound to shape their artistic vision. Their work is rooted in an intuitive process that transcends traditional boundaries of logic, reality, and gravity, enabling a fluid relationship between the real and the imagined. Kroopkin invites viewers into multidimensional spaces that explore themes of transformation, energy in motion, emotion, memory, and free association, allowing these intangible concepts to unfold visually.

The material strategies in Kroopkin’s work act as a conduit to the subconscious, with spontaneous application reflecting the mind’s deeper layers. The process typically begins with Sumi ink, applied in bold, expressive gestures using a bamboo brush. Texture and depth are added through fine etching tools, and once the ink dries, oil paints, oil sticks, and graphite are layered on top, adding complexity and emotion. The colors and textures chosen are deeply tied to the emotional landscape of the work, transforming internal feeling into a visual language.

Kroopkin also invents fantastical beings that serve as guides within the work, leading the viewer into an even deeper engagement with the imagined realms. These realms, often imbued with primitive symbolism and gestural strokes, reflect the intersection of human experience with the unknown, turning chaos into wonder and suggesting the possibility of something beyond the visible world.

Contemporary artist Shakti Kroopkin, born in Chicago 1976, graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and journeyed to New Mexico in 2005. Kroopkin (she/they) lives along the historic hills of Los Cerrillos, NM with their teenage son, Malachi, two dogs, Frankie Taco and Ruby Rainbow, chickens and a rooster. Shakti opened Mad Contemporary Gallery and Art Center January 2023 in Madrid, NM, where they direct, curate, and teach. She is also showing with Walter Wickiser Gallery, NY, NY, Jezebel Gallery in Madrid, NM and with the Santa Fe Society of Artists.

Kroopkin produces original paintings, sculptures, commissions, and designs art clothing. She facilitates abstract art workshops, hosts community and queer-centered events, and lectures at universities.