Kristi Yapp is a fiber and mixed-media artist whose work transforms grief into creation, exploring themes of generational trauma, faith, and renewal. Born and raised in Park Forest, Illinois, Yapp began making art in the aftermath of a profound personal loss. In September 2022, her son died from a fentanyl overdose, and just three months later, her mom passed away from pancreatic turbo cancer. During her mother’s illness, Yapp began creating intricate freeform crochet hats to remain close to her mom and to cope with uncertainty. When she shared the pieces online, local artist Ginny Raftery, also from the Park Forest area, noticed her work and introduced her to the broader art community—opening a path Yapp had dreamed of since her childhood.

After her mother’s death, Yapp devoted herself to artmaking with a renewed purpose. In 2024, she moved with her family to rural Rensselaer, Indiana, where she lives surrounded by the quiet rhythms of farm life—her husband, three sons, five dogs, five cats, twenty-four chickens, three roosters, and two ducks. The connection to nature and the cycle of renewal now infuse her creative practice.

Yapp’s work often examines what is passed down—pain, love, and memory—and the act of breaking a generational curse. Recurring symbols such as the apple, the serpent, and the broken heart evoke both biblical and personal mythology. Her monumental 7½-foot wet-felted wool piece, Pilgrimage, stands as a visual testament to endurance, love, and transformation through loss.