Grand Prize Winner

Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2026

Kris Lewis

Title:

“Sprung”

Medium & Dimensions:

Oil on wood, 40 x 30″

About the Artist

Kris Lewis (b. 1978, Jackson Township, New Jersey) is a contemporary realist painter whose work is deeply rooted in personal experience and family heritage. Growing up on the Jersey Shore in a large family with seven brothers and one sister, Lewis was shaped by a household full of love, conflict, beauty, and tradition. His mother, a Latvian immigrant who fled communist forces as a young child to come to the US, raised the children alone after his parents’ separation. She taught him the value of hard work and dedication while passing on a profound love for their Latvian cultural heritage, which remains an enduring influence in his art. Lewis studied illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. After college he lived in Los Angeles for several years, where his career gained international momentum. In 2013, he moved back to New Jersey to be closer to his family and marry the love of his life. He is a devoted husband and father and currently lives in Fair Haven, New Jersey, where he continues to create paintings that explore emotion, identity, and the human story.

“Sprung”: Sprung can be understood as an exploration of the subjects inner emotional world rather than a literal scene. Its dreamlike imagery suggests themes of introspection, transformation, vulnerability, and the unconscious mind, inviting the viewer to look beyond appearances.