Pilar Cristi. Photographer. Artist. Explorer.

Pilar combines her artistic and creative background as a graphic designer for a leading motorsports company, with her love of capturing time and emotions through a lens.
Pilar was born and raised in Santiago, Chile, where as a young girl, her love for the arts developed. After two decades as a graphic artist, a trip to Paris re-ignited her love for photography while capturing endless images full of street life and stories at every turn. Since that trip, she has traveled the world and backpacked through wilderness exploring remote landscapes throughout the western United States with her camera. What began as a hobby, quickly became a passion.

As a Photographer, she's self-taught, having learned her craft through personal research and practical experience behind the camera. In her current work, she has transitioned to the love of black and white photography, Pilar incorporates daytime long exposure technique to capture the images with the added element of time. Sometimes the exposures are up to six minutes long. The end result evokes mystery and surrealism, and something that wasn’t visible to the eye before, now takes a dreamlike appearance. An image that only exists in her mind, through her creative vision. Pilar is also haunted and intrigued by the awe of urban decay and ominous skies. Her photography satisfies her hunger for the unknown and a desire to interpret her own reality. With a passion for travel, exploration, art, beach life and coffee, Pilar spends her spare time mountain biking and strolling the beaches of her hometown of Laguna Beach where she lives with her husband and their beloved Yorkies mix, Peanut and Lucy.

Juried Shows & Exhibitions

Upcoming Summer 2024
2024 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach - July 3 - August 30

2023 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach
2022 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach
2021 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach
2020 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach - (Virtual only - Cancelled due to Covid)
2020 Beverly Hills Art Show - (Cancelled due to Covid)
2019 Beverly Hills Art Show
2018 Beverly Hills Art Show – “Honorable Mention”
2017 Beverly Hills Art Show – “Honorable Mention”
2017 San Diego Festival of Arts
2016 Beverly Hills Art Show – “2nd place for Best in Photography”
2016 Bowers Museum – Aging as Art Photography Exhibit
2016 Indian Wells Arts Festival
2015 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach – “People’s Choice Award & Honorable Mention”
2014 Festival of Arts Exhibit- The Ritz-Carlton
2014 Festival of Arts Exhibit- Fresh Faces, Wells Fargo Bank
2014 Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach
2013 Art-a-Fair Festival, Laguna Beach

Representation

 Hugo Rivera Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA