KYRIANNA

KYRIANNA is an internationally known, award winning surrealist watercolor and mixed media artist whose practice centers on disability, chronic pain, and the complex experience of living in a failing body. She incorporates themes of psychology, nature, intersectionality and feminism. Working on the West Coast of the United States, she creates intimate yet visually striking works that transform invisible experiences into tangible imagery. Her practice spans watercolor, mixed media, installation, and performance, alongside experience in curation and multimedia art event production.

​

 

Raised on a small sheep farm in the foothills of Southern Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains, KYRIANNA developed a deep fascination with the natural world alongside an early and exceptional aptitude for art. Her parents - Sharon Bolles and Nando Raynolds as well as her older brother Jasper Raynolds have always been very supportive of her art and creativity. At twelve, she began experiencing symptoms of a debilitating chronic pain condition that would profoundly shape her artistic practice. The condition at its best leaves her in constant pain 24/7 and is at worst debilitating and leaves her unable to walk or stand. After many many years of searching for answers, being told she was "too young" to be in so much pain, and visits to dozens of doctors and medical professionals; KYRIANNA was diagnosed with a degenerative chronic pain condition that currently has no treatment. Art quickly became less of a hobby and more of a crucial outlet to process the excruciating reality and grief of living with a severe chronic condition.

​

In high school, KYRIANNA started creating watercolor self portraits about her pain, using visual metaphors drawn from parallels she saw in nature, such as fungus growing on rotting wood or parasitic plants rooting into soil, giving form to experiences that were otherwise invisible and difficult to communicate. These works became the foundation for a lifelong investigation into the relationship between the body, psychology, nature, and identity. She served as president of her local chapter of the National Art Honor Society, received awards for her art, and had exhibitions at several local and regional galleries.

 

 

University laid bare the systemic inequalities for the disabled community, as she tried unsuccessfully to get disability accommodations from her school - the University of Puget Sound. Despite struggling with accessibility, during undergrad KYRIANNA was awarded merit scholarships for her work. Her art appeared in over a dozen university publications, and won several awards including the Senior Art Award in her graduating class for her thesis project creating portraits of students with chronic pain and illness.

​

After earning her degrees, KYRIANNA expanded this deeply personal practice into an ongoing portrait project with people living with chronic conditions. Working one on one with subjects of varied ages and backgrounds, she uses an extensive interview process to understand each person's experience before developing a visual metaphor in collaboration with them. The resulting surrealist watercolor portraits are visual articulations of pain, illness, and other invisible conditions while centering the subject's own voice and experience. The work creates a rare space for people to feel seen and heard while challenging the disbelief, stereotypes, and ableism that often surround invisible conditions.

​

 

While still struggling with worsening chronic pain, KYRIANNA's practice has continued to grow in both scale and ambition, with recent work expanding into large scale watercolor paintings and increasingly ambitious mixed media and installation projects. Her work has been exhibited internationally and regionally, and she has received numerous awards and distinctions throughout her career. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications and she has presented exhibitions and projects in galleries and museums. Alongside her studio practice, she has experience in curating and producing multimedia art events, contributing to the broader artistic communities in which she works.

​

 

At the heart of KYRIANNA's practice is a belief that art can create agency where illness has taken it away. Her work does not simply illustrate disability, it asks viewers to reconsider how bodies, pain, and disability are understood and represented. Through surrealism, collaboration, and an increasingly expansive physical scale, she transforms deeply personal experiences into works that invite empathy and conversation. What began as a way to make sense of her own pain has developed into a sustained artistic practice dedicated to making invisible experiences visible and giving greater space to the lived experiences of disabled people.