Experience Curator
Raised at the edge of the dense rainforest in Panama City, Panama, Krystle Holnes is a visual artist that processes her experiences and explores human questions through her art. Growing up in an Afro-Caribbean household, proved to be both challenging and a nurturing place for a ‘third culture kid’ to learn various cultures, all forms of art (visual, dance and musical), and other colorful experiences.
Krystle Holnes is a Visual Artist and Experience Curator based in Houston, Texas and working everywhere.
kholnesg@gmail.com
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Like many young Panamanian girls, Krystle took ballet and tap dance classes. She later found interests in gymnastics and cheerleading. In her free time you could find her sketching on any blank paper in the house or cutting up her dads work socks and sewing on fabric scraps form her maternal grandmothers dress making business to make clothes for her barbies. By middle school Krystle was taking her more serious sewing classes. Her high school IB program platformed her art in various arts venues and gallery exhibitions in Panama City, Panama. The summer before moving to Savannah, Georgia, Krystle spent a few months in the interiors of Panama, learning how to make Tembleques (a traditional headdress for the Pollera) and received one on one tutelage from an indigenous person from the Kuna Yala tribe how to sew Molas (an embroidery technique not commonly taught to non indigenous people) Her first fashion show was during the senior showcase. Krystle attended painting classes at Universidad del Arte Ganexa and later majored in Fashion Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her Post Baccalaureate accreditation in Consumer Science & Merchandising at the University of Houston, allowed Krystle to learn “why people make purchases, She then stayed in Houston taking advantage of the city’s multi-ethnic scene (landscape) to produce and participate in fashion shows and fashion illustration competitions. After becoming interested in Arts Education Krystles curiosity for visual art returned. During the summer of her first year as an Arts Educator Krystle attended a professional development at Les Tapies, in the French Alps where she learned the traditions of Plein Aire Painting ( Landscape) on the same roads and fields as the greats Cezanne and Van Gogh.
Krystle Holnes’ work serves as social commentary on the treatment of Black Diasporic people through dance as subject. Inspired by the heartbeat of the Black diasporic dancer, powerful still choreography narrates stories with each artwork. Her use of line and expressive colors evoke deep emotions of love, frustration, happiness, and desires for equity. While looking at the artwork the viewer feels the grace, struggle, and calmness of the dancer's soul. Some of her work was on display at Mid Main lofts gallery, Pancakes and Booze, and Insomnia gallery in Houston, Texas. Her artistry as well as her efforts in Arts Education and advocacy has been recognized by the Houston Independent School District board of trustees. She also has a sketchbook on file at the Brooklyn Sketchbook Library in New York and was one of a selected few to be a part of Artists Inc Houston Fellowship 2022.