Chris Millar (painter/sculptor) + Kristopher Karklin (photographer/sculptor) are two of eight Alberta artists who received the 2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award on June 14, 2012. Award recipients receive a medal and a $10,000 cash prize.
Chris aims to create a new form of storytelling, “that expands on the traditions of painting, sculpture, and comic books by weaving the humorous and narrative possibilities with fanatical accumulation.” The adjudicators credit him with a “most fertile imagination, pushing painting into sculpture — utterly unique."
Kristopher has sold work to Sir Elton John whose response to seeing his work was, ‘I’ll take three.’ The adjudicators’ response to Kristopher's work: “Innovative, entirely original, assured work, pushing technical boundaries.”
Chris' work was included in the 2005 and 2010 Alberta Biennial collaboration between the Edmonton Art Gallery and the Walter Phillips Gallery at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The National Gallery of Canada recently acquired his work Bejeweled Doubled Festooned Plus Skill for Girls. His work is also included at Oh Canada, an exhibition of contemporary Canadian art at MASS MoCa. Kristopher's work has been exhibited in Kyoto, Japan, Alberta and Ontario, and are found within the collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.