Kris Mortensen grew up in the Midwest between Iowa and Illinois with brief stints in Georgia and Canada, where she attended the Ottawa School of Art, before moving to Boston to pursue her BFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University. While working towards finishing her undergraduate degree, she also held various internships at the Harvard Fogg Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Cambridge Arts Council as well as becoming the recipient of the Dana Pond Award and the prestigious Traveling Scholars Fellowship. 

 

Upon completing her studies, Mortensen journeyed across the United States before returning to New England to set up her studio in Vermont where she completed a body of work reflecting her travels. In 2012 she began pursuit of a Masters of Fine Art in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her time at SAIC, Mortensen worked as the Installation Director of the Student Union Galleries and as a Teacher's Assistant in the Painting and Drawing Department. She is currently living and working in Abu Dhabi.