For my abstract photo-based collages, I aim to hint at an ephemeral experience of landscape, to suggest multiple points of time, or imply landscape as a whimsical “beast” constantly in motion. My work is influenced by my own sense of spirituality in relation to nature, and the relationship between how society uses landscape and how nature pushes back.

Primarily using my smartphone for my photography, I try to capture something more about my subject than how it literally appears. The process of abstraction begins in-camera by using solarizing filters, clip-on lens, or distorting panoramas. The majority of distortions and colors in the final work are what the camera originally captured. I then digitally overlay multiple photographs of the same or similar subjects, and incorporate my drawing and painting to “puzzle-piece” color, form and pattern to create surreal landscapes with an emphasis on energetic vibrancy.

Native to Chicago IL, Kia Neill is a multidiscipline artist working in photography, drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture and installation. She received her MFA from The University of California San Diego and has taught for 15 plus years, ranging from universities to non-profit art centers. She currently teaches for Breck Create, The Colorado Photographic Art Center, and Think 360 Arts. Her photo-based collages are her present focus and she has produced a number of commissions for Southwest Airlines Hobby International Airport, the City of Houston, The Children’s Museum of Denver Mariposa Campus, the Aspen Police Department, and the Town of Silverthorne.