About Christine:
From a very young age, making art has always been an important process for me. I was born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA, and went on to attend Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University in Norfolk where I eventually obtained my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2001. Immediately after graduating I packed up, moved across country and relocated in Phoenix, Arizona to pursue a life in the arts.
Since July of 2009 I am a full-time artist working primarily in cast concrete. In the art-making process, using all environmentally-safe and responsible materials is something that I have become passionate about in recent years. During my career while working for an environmental-building firm, I reviewed information and research data on environmental chemicals [toxins] used in our everyday products. As I learned more of the staggering statistics about the health effects these chemicals and waste have on our planet and on our bodies, I was convinced that change started with me [and you]. I did the homework and found alternative solutions for both materials and studio practices.
Many mediums I had used for years were given up: all resins, oil paints, solvents, lacquers and petroleum-based materials. As a result – many new mediums were found such as, soy-based sealers, concrete casting, natural earth pigments, clay-based paints and a whole host of recycled materials.
This new exploration of medium has changed the direction of my work significantly and brought a new layer of underlying content into the works as I continue to create an ongoing dialogue of visual elements that explore ideas related to human behavior and environmental adaptation.
Curriculum Vitae:
education
1998-2001 — Old Dominion University
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree
Major: Studio Art
Minor: Art History and Modern Architecture|
1993-94 — Virginia Commonwealth University
Art Foundations Program
selected exhibitions
07.2010 – 08.2010: “Invest With Confidence” — Practical Art Gallery, Phoenix AZ
03.2009 – 05.2009: Solo Exhibition — a.k.a. Green, Scottsdale AZ
01.2009 – 02.2009: “Subsidized Rhythms” — Practical Art Gallery, Phoenix AZ
06.2006 – 07.2006: “Detailed Negotiations” — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
07.2005 – 08.2005: Group Exhibition — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
05.2004 – 06.2004: “Worlds Unknown” — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
03.2004 – 04.2004: Art Detour — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
03.2003 – 04.2003: “The Building” — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
01.2002 – 02.2002: “Surrealistic Landscapes” — Paulina Miller Studio Gallery, Phoenix AZ
04.2001 – 05.2001: “Amazon Casino Toy” — Old Dominion Gallery, Norfolk VA
03.2001 – 04.2001: “Female Gender Super Star” — (juried show) Moda Gallery, Norfolk VA
02.1998 – 03.1998: Group Exhibition — Old Dominion University Webb Center, Norfolk VA
selected press & media
07.2010: “Recasting the Local Art Scene” – Downtown Phoenix Journal
07.2010: “Concrete Contributions” – Phoenix New Times
06.2006: “Local Artist Finds Resin to Believe” — Phoenix New Times
06.2005: “A Female Touch to First Fridays” — The Arizona Republic
01.2004: “You Should Get That Looked At”, bookcover artwork — Main Street Rag Publishing Co.
05.2004: “When Workday Ends, Artist Breaks Free from Cubicle World” — The Arizona Republic
12.2002: Art News Magazine listing
03.2001: “The Young and the Not-So-Beautiful” — The Virginian Pilot
grants / scholarships
1999 — Recipient of the Charles Sibley Scholarship
Current Artist Statement: “Invest With Confidence” click here to view series
Desensitized – we are – to the exorbitant dollar amounts our federal government has donated to prop up our failed financial institutions. Desensitized further – we are – to the innocuous financial buzzwords like sub-prime, commodity, hedge funds, credit market, and derivatives – with most Americans not having a clear understanding as to what these words actually represent or how these financial instruments function within our free market system. But desensitized, we are the most, to the lack of integrity and ethics instilled within those who hold powerful positions within these essential markets. Despite the crimes and pure reckless greed of these institutions which oversaw the recent demise of our financial investment markets – to scale – we, as the people, remain completely and collectively apathetic to this historic event.
“Invest With Confidence” invites the viewer to engage with ideas surrounding our current market investment conditions and the consequences of their subsequent choices. By way of the collector, art is an investment. In this series, each piece of cast concrete contains a host of embedded objects: metal gears, stones, plant seeds, motor oil – all objects which represent free market commodities. Each piece also contains modern paper currency that is safely sealed and carefully inserted into slots within a concrete matrix. The currency has been intentionally protected so as to be in compliance with United States Code: Title 18 / 333** and remains fit to be removed from the piece and reissued [spent].
With the option to remove and reissue [spend] the currency, the viewer is offered the idea to question their choices. The act of removal would destroy the integrity of the piece, thus altering the integrity of the investment. However, the capability to do so forces the viewer to explore various personal expectations and choices when assigning value[s] to physical objects, while examining the integrity and ethical choices of their actions along with the potential impact on the future value and subsequent return on each possible investment.
**United States Code: Title 18 U.S.C. § 333. Mutilation of national bank obligations
Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.