2022 Grad Show

Christine O.

AUArts Grad Show sqlhorse

Fibre

My body of work is as diverse as the ideas and materials used to make my ideas a reality. However, some constants include natural themes such as landscapes, animals,and flowers as well as memory and place. As a multidisciplinary artist, I use colour, subject,and material in ways that complement the concept. For example, I may use one technique, such as papercutting, for a simple silhouette picture while another idea may be executed with several techniques such as paint, photography,and knitting. Additionally, my commercial drawings, designs,and photography differ from work produced for an art market. Commercial work requires items that are easily read or consumed. As an enthusiastic nerd, I often engage technology—whether it’s photography or computer-aided design (CAD) software—to measure, plan and conceptualize work beforehand. I rarely work spontaneously as my pieces require planning, thought,and research. Research is a vital facet of my practice in order create meaningful works built on motifs, history,and more. Usually,I discover ways to connect personally with the material or idea to create a thought or narrative.

My values, such as reuse, sustainability, thrift,and sharing, are closely tied to my
current works. I will use materials at hand (which may have been thrifted or discarded) to create armatures for layered works. My intent is never to have the work look like trash or the original item. Additionally, I strongly believe in sharing information and skills enriches my life and the lives of others, whether it’s teaching crafts or connecting people with the information they need.

Whose Chair Is There?

My theme for FIBRE327 was memory and place, a broad, yet powerful theme that is both personal and public.

Does a collective memory inhabit place?

What happens when the place disappears or the built environment changes?

Whose memories are captured? What facts are forgotten? Whose perspective is considered?

These are just some of the questions I tackled in developing layered pictures using photographs, memories and paper to construct a whole piece. Each one uses a thrifted frame and reused/already purchased material in some way.

Homebody

26 months of working from home and pandemic self-isolation takes a person to places they haven't gone before. Homebody is a life-sized avatar of myself made from small knit pieces and cardboard boxes. My goal was to use materials on hand and not buy new materials. As a result, food boxes became a natural choice for the overall structure. Humorous and whimsical, Homebody represents the lighter side of fine arts.

Mother's Day 1981

My theme for FIBRE327 was memory and place, a broad, yet powerful theme that is both personal and public.

Does a collective memory inhabit place?

What happens when the place disappears or the built environment changes?

Whose memories are captured? What facts are forgotten? Whose perspective is considered?

These are just some of the questions I tackled in developing layered pictures using photographs, memories and paper to construct a whole piece. Each one uses a thrifted frame and reused/already purchased material in some way.

Time to Bloom

Time to Bloom is influenced by vanitas, a genre of still life painting popularized in the 17th century Netherlands. Collections of objects, often placed haphazardly, were “symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures”. Dutch vanitas communicates through a visual language that can still be read today.

This site may contain artworks with provocative content that some viewers may find uncomfortable or upsetting. AUArts supports a culture of non-censorship and ongoing conversations about contemporary art.