The Portraitist

an intoxicating mix of desire, sorrow and vulnerability can often be found in Toronto-based painter Kris Knight’s pastel portraits. Fitting, as the 35-year-old artist notes that he spent much of his youth in rural Ontario, searching for an identity of his own.

His love of pastels came early; as a child, Knight would help his mom, who was a baker, tint icing and, without knowing, ended up creating his

now-signature palette of saccharine- sweet pinks, greens and blues. Enchanting the fashion world this year, the artist was asked by designer Christian Lacroix to create a painting for his exhibit

Lumières: Carte Blanche à Christian Lacroix,

followed by Gucci, who had Knight reimagine the house’s iconic Flora pattern for its 2015 resort collection. Up next, Knight is back in the studio, prepping for his solo exhibition, Never-Never, which will open at the Katharine Mulherin gallery in Toronto in September. h