Statement:
Space, time, matter, and consciousness are primary themes in my work. Informed by the technical rigor of my Bauhaus-inspired education and my own curiosity about the unquantifiable aspects of existence, my works in drawing and sculpture are hand-built, detailed, and cumulative. I work within thematic narratives to create modular units within the context of gallery exhibits and as stand-alone pieces in private collections. I use analog techniques to explore the varied territories between the material and immaterial. The intricate nature of my work reveals the role of structures, patterns, and time in the study of our collective existence.
Throughout my career, my work has explored voyeurism and paranoia, land-use issues and humanity’s impact on the environment, nuclear contamination, and emotional states. I use scientific data, images, and representations of geologic forms as starting points to study. My recent drawing series delves into ideas around entropy and renewal, and how space, matter, and time shape our perceptions of reality. The act of rendering expands their physicality, transforming the original subject into an otherworldly object meant for contemplation. The graphite drawing technique I have developed over the past sixteen years challenges the limits of the material, taking on metallic physical properties.
A few years ago I added sculpture to my artistic practice. One branch of this exploration is a large-scale installation project inspired by chemistry and particle physics (and is still very much a slow-going work-in-progress). Within this realm, I use paper folding techniques as a formal procedure to build very specific structures. The use of planar materials to create 3D objects provide an opportunity not only to embrace established techniques of paper folding as a methodology, but to allow technical means to evolve in relation to my understanding of the subject. In another branch of my sculptural exploration, I have taken on the traditional craft of needle felting to create nuclear blast clouds. Just as time, rigor and experimentation with the medium of graphite led to personal innovation, these new forays into sculpture have unique perspectives, creating objects beyond the typical manifestations one expects from these materials and techniques.
I make artwork in order to activate discovery, enabling me to bring raw states of human consciousness (emotion, crisis, relationship) into encounter with the very building blocks of matter. Our carbon-based selves are at once quantifiable and mysterious. Matter contains more than meets the eye — my artworks seek to interrogate that mystery and encourage unconventional approaches to procedural thinking.
Bio:
Christine Weir creates drawings and sculptural works that reflect the tension between matter, time, and the subjective perceptual experience of individual consciousness. Her modular graphite works, primarily on clay board, magnify and enhance the detail of geological topographies, becoming symbolic sites for introspection. Her themed collections of precise, hand-built works have been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States. Unapologetically stark, dramatic, and personal, her exhibited and commissioned works are popular with private collectors throughout the US.
Based in Los Angeles, Christine is excited about rock-climbing and shepherding her teenaged powerhouse into adulthood. Her formal education includes a BFA in Studio Art (Kutztown University of PA) and MS in Theory, Criticism, and History of Art, Design, and Architecture from Pratt Institute. While formal art training served as a strong foundation, she attributes her unique perspective about the creative process and art making to her decade-long career in the auction business, where she handled a vast and diverse amount of artwork. Christine combines her love of both theory and practice in her daily studio sessions.