About the Artist
Artist Biography
Kirra (She/They) has vacillated between art and science since early childhood, and in the last four years, she has finally embraced smashing them together. They have both a Bachelor’s degree (2022) and a Masters of Science (2024) from the University of Alberta. Their artistic skills supported their initial admission into university. Despite the outward presentation of a strictly science-focused decade since animation school, illustration has been a key component of her three current scientific publications and a digital anti-arachnophobia book.
In parallel with their academic career, they have used most
of their free time sketching, painting, and visually documenting the world around them. This helped immensely when they decided to transition towards a more art-focused career. Recently,
Kirra was a featured artist in “Groundworks – The Works Festival 2025”, with “Fungus
on Flannel”. In 2026, she is preparing for a few group shows and restructuring components of her studio for future major projects.
Artist Statement
I am inspired by the oddity of the natural world. I create
to stave off my more fatalistic and cynical impulses, with my work serving as a
conduit for a sense of humour that, in conversation, often fails me. I tend
to connect ideas that would otherwise be left unpaired – especially when I am
drawing inspiration from the natural world. By blending biological education
and my own internal absurdism, I frequently subvert my own expectations. This allows
me to simultaneously laugh and appreciate the inherent wonder within the
rugged Darwinism of the world.
Acrylic paint facilitates the necessary precise layering to achieve a style that sits between expressive realism and the flat vibrancy of an animation cel. My process is informed by the clinical gaze of vintage textbook illustrations and the immersive, magical worlds of fantasy literature. I use odd creatures and underrepresented subjects as allegories for the neurodivergent experience – it's easy to feel out of place when you experience the world differently.
Ultimately, I aim to bring whimsy and a sense of connection into the world, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with nature while offering a brief moment of escapism—a necessary reprieve from the real, the obvious, and the mundane.
Contact me for a more current CV, this is irregularly maintained.
Solo Exhibitions:
Enbridge Community Rail, 2025, November - January
Otto Food & Drink, "Going Coastal", 2025, October - November
Works Fest "Groundworks" 40th Anniversary, 'Fungus on Flannel', 2025, Stanley A Milner Library
Roots on Whyte " Bark & Beaks" & "Fungus & Feathers", 2025 July-October
Group Exhibitions:
Red Brick Commons, Hallowed & Spooky, 2025
Federation of Canadian Artists ‘Your Aesthetic’, (Juried Group), 2025
Gallery 501 "Journeys and Transitions"
Felice Café, 2025
Night Of Artists, ‘Luminous’, 2024
Planted Tank, 2024-2025
Anvil Café, 2024-2025
Concordia, February 2025
Bleeding Hearts Gallery, February 2025,
Night Of Artists, ‘Into the Wild’, 2025
Collection Contributions:
University of Alberta, E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum, 2023-2025 (2 Pieces in permanent Collection)
Sherwood Park Collection, 2025, (First Time Parents in permanent collection)
Publication History
Illustration/Writing/Revisions
Kent K, Martínez AR, Guelly K, Pinzon J, Mori BA. (2025) Edge Effects and Pitfall Trap Design Influence Spider Diversity and Assemblages in Canola Agroecosystems on the Canadian Prairies. Ecol Evol.
Kent, K., J. Pinzon, & H. Proctor. (2023). A beginner-friendly key to the families of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) known from the Canadian Prairie Provinces
Illustration/Revisions
Pinzon, J., K. Kent & R. Bennett (2022) First record of Pholcus opilionoides (Schrank, 1781)
Pinzon, J., K. Kent, D. J. Buckle & R. Bennett (2022) Redescription of Robertus arcticus (Chamberlin & Ivie 1947) (Araneae: Theridiidae), with the first description of the female.
“Lots of Lovely Legs” Illustrated Spider Children’s book, first ed. completed 2015, revising painted illustrations
Presentations & Workshops
Kent. K. 2025. Pitfalls in Biodiversity Data: Management & Generation: Systems & Strategies for a Streamlined Spreadsheet, Entomological Society of Canada, JAM 2025
Kent. K. 2025. Art & Arachnids: Scientific Illustration & Art For Communication. Invited Speaker series in Camrose
Kent. K. 2024. "Paint and Learn" as part of the Works Festival 40th Anniversary event series
Kent. K. 2023. Improving the retention rate of spiders captured in pitfall traps within agroecosystems.
Kent. K. 2022. Spider Diversity and Dietary choice in Albertan Canola agroecosystems
Kent. K. 2021. Building a Dichotomous Key: Key to the Spiders of the Canadian Prairies
Kent. K. 2020. Lots of Lovely Legs: An Illustrated Spider Diversity Book for Children
Organization and Associations
Exhibiting Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, 2025
Member of Alberta Entomological Society, 2019 - ongoing
Gallery 501 Member
Interviews & Media Coverage
St Albert Gazette, 2025
EPL Book List, 2205
Works fest, 2025