Kristen received a BFA in Printmaking from Syracuse University, and an MFA from Clemson University. Her mixed media works combine painting and printmaking, and encaustic. Kristen is currently a Professor of Art and Department Chair at Albright College.

"Contradictions between the destructive and creative forces of animal welfare and environmental stewardship have been woven throughout my artwork over the past decade. The Covid-19 pandemic further highlighted our precarious relationships with the wild and domesticated animals we use as food, as well as our companion animals. My paintings of individual farm animals are intended to reflect their sentience, while small paintings of food reflect the ordinary pleasures of life, and consumption."