Artist Profile: Kris Laping

Kris Laping is an American oil painter based in Boston’s vibrant SOWA Arts and Design District. She began exhibiting and selling her work in 2022, following the establishment of her studio/gallery—an inspiring space that gave her the freedom to deepen her practice and expand her body of work.

Known for her expressive, large-scale paintings, Laping works at the intersection of abstract expressionism and impressionism. Her bold compositions are rich with texture, movement, and saturated color, often evoking visceral responses from viewers. She cites Monet, van Gogh, Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock as key influences—artists whose work, like hers, captures not just what we see, but what we feel.

Laping’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the Northeast in respected venues such as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, the Copley Society of Art, Boston City Hall Galleries, Galatea Fine Arts, Piano Craft Gallery, and The Art Gallery/New England Art Center. Her work has also appeared in international online exhibitions with The Holy Art Gallery (London, UK), Influx Gallery (London, UK), and Las Laguna Gallery (Laguna Beach, CA). She is a member of both the SOWA Artists Guild and The Art Gallery/New England Art Center.

At the core of Laping’s work is an emotional honesty that transcends the canvas. “Painting is my first language—the one that tells a story when words are inadequate,” she says. “It’s how I translate my personal narrative into emotional imagery, and fleeting moments and visions into something that lingers.” 

Her work lives at the crossroads of memory, place, and feeling. She uses bold textures, charged color, and expressive bushwork to create visual landscapes that hum with energy, light, and joy. Balancing structure with spontaneity, each painting is a sensory experience, shaped by both natural and intuitive inspiration.

Her work is, above all, hopeful—offering beauty as a counterbalance to the world’s chaos. “Even in the face of uncertainty, my work pulses with optimism and possibility,” shares Laping. “Because I believe beauty can still buffer the noise, and even the despair, of our world.” 

For Laping, art is not just expression; it’s an offering. A meditation. A celebration. And, most of all, an invitation to connect.