Preliminary knit sketch for Hayes/ Tilden 1876 Campaign Sweater, part of a series of sweaters revisiting U.S. presidential campaign slogans. Sweaters were shown in 2008 at Aspen Art Museum and the series of knitted sketches were shown at Printed Matter in NY.
"I am a mixed media artist. I make paintings, drawings, prints, wire sculptures, installations, and one-of-a-kind books that often have recurring motifs and themes based on African world views and graphic symbols. New Orleans Exodus was created in 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The image emerged organically with no particular event in mind. It wasn't until its completion that its relation to the hurricane and the tragic displacement of families became apparent, hence the title, New Orleans Exodus."
Acrylic, digital embroidery, and gesso on linen on panel
20 x 16 x 1.75 inches
Signed on the back
"I make landscape works that decentralize and fragment a sense of comprehending a view “at-a-glance” which has historically been a convention of depicting nature wrapped up in “appreciation” but also control and subjugation. In this work, drawings are translated into digital embroidery and in combination with painting, sewn linen and gesso engage qualities of shifting light. Garment making often provides both a physical and metaphoric structure in my work. The materials refer to traditions of landscape painting, while the thread image becomes part of the fabric itself."
"Making these drawings is like making friends. They're turbulent in many ways but they sparkle and shine too. Underlying my investment in "landscape" is a sense that how a culture depicts or does not depict "landscape" or conceptualizes "nature," if at all, is indicative of specific cultural attitudes and practices towards a perceived "other." This is one thing I can do right now, and the glitter sparkles like mad, so I hope it brings some joy to fortify in these times. Shine light while putting in that work. Celebration can also be protest."
This painting is part a series and collaboration with Denise Markonish of Massmoca and my greater creative community. 48 of these images will be on exhibition at Massmoca as a "Zoom" installation as of November 14th.
From the 50 original works of the Olympic Centennial Suite, the IOC printed 250 lithographs of each work, all measuring 63/90cm, on Arches vellum paper (270 grams), signed by the artist and numbered.
"This piece was done for a show called "Schizophrenic Brain Trust" and was a part of an evening called "Melody of Chaos." I did a related performance called "Human Pig Hybrid" and then the exhibit remained for a month. The series explored the human brain in a linear way using my knowledge and how it work as per schizophrenic brain. I have this disorder so it is my personal view of a neurodiverse brain."
Spacetime Matrix: Alternative geometry for the stucture of the universe, 2020
Videotape
12” W x 12”H x 7”(D)
Signed by Christine Wertheim
The sculpture is a VHS of The Matrix, crocheted into the shape of a "hyperbolic pseudosphere." Mathematically, hyperbolic forms are negative curvature surfaces, being the geometric equivalent of a negative number. Long thought to be impossible by mathematicians, hyperbolic forms can be constructed in crochet, giving material substance to a hitherto verboten geometric space. As with plot of The Matrix, the piece alludes to alternative realities hovering at the edge of consciousness.