About the Artist

Karis Funk has been a creative since childhood. She began with crafting, but was intrigued, even at a young age, by art and drawing. Her favourite gifts to receive were always markers and pencil crayons. In grade school, she was inspired by other artists in her life - from a childhood friend, to a middle school teacher - and often emulated their styles in order to learn techniques, and how to express herself. She always wanted her art to encourage thinking outside the box, and finding happiness within, themes which both still stand true of her work today.

Karis was primarily self-taught for most of her life, using the skills she learned in grade school art class, practicing regularly and later moved on to learning from tutorials on YouTube and Instagram. Her desire to hone her craft in a more structured setting brought her to the Mastery Program at Milan Art Institute at age 34, where she learned fine art, oil painting, mixed media, marketing, and to her surprise - she learned a lot about herself in the process. 

Karis’ art portrays powerful and majestic animals, often with aquatic themes to portray her deep love and respect for the ocean and how much of it there is yet to explore.  She also enjoys painting portraits, particularly women. Another theme that often comes up in her paintings is self-love, self discovery and adapting to inevitable change throughout life, while thriving to be the best versions of ourselves.

"When you're young, there's this expectation that by the time you turn 30, you'll be old and have your life together. You'll know everything there is to know about yourself and your life will be exactly as you dreamed, and if it's not, then you've gone horribly wrong and you're doomed to a tragic life. For me, the opposite was true. My life started in my 30's, when I truly began to learn about myself and be open to really knowing who I am and what I want out of my life. I came out as queer, and I started following my passion, and allowing myself the freedom to be happy, even if it meant letting some people down in the process, because up until then, I'd been carrying everyone else's expectations of me, and letting myself down more than anyone else, and it was slowly killing me. Expressing myself authentically, and focusing on what I love has opened an entire new world for me. Art saved me. Art breaths life into my soul, and I want to share that with the world, so that others know that they are worthy of living the life they dreamed too."

Now, Karis paints in her home studio in Southern Manitoba, where she lives with her dog, Scout and her cat, Oliver.  Her work brings playfulness, vibrancy and color through abstract backgrounds, adding complexity with texture and skill in the details. 

Karis has a big interest in self-improvement and is inspired by the transformations she has made in her life through learning about psychology and hermetic science.