Open Studios 2010, CSULB

ARTISTS

CHRISTINA SHURTS

ARTIST STATEMENT
Appropriated architectural structures combine with personal photographs and memory to transform into a painted fictional world. In his lecture, On Other Spaces (1967), Michael Foucault introduced heterotopia as an “other” space similar to utopia; yet, it is not a homogenized space but a combination of many spaces, which mirror the real world. An example would be Wonderland for Alice. Similarly, the source materials in my paintings are images of places we escape to away from the everyday. Vacation bungalows, piers, tree houses, and even the circus combine as a new structure. The organization of the paintings relies on the hierarchy of painted layers of linear architecture. I break down the conceptual and physical definitions of superstructure to compare my paintings to society. Like the energy in human relationships, which uphold society, these amalgams rely on their structural underpinnings and their connection to the ground plane. Areas of poor construction mirror our own difficulties to maintain the balance of connection to and escape from society. I work to combine the public and the intimate transforming the image through the act of painting. I like to think that I make paintings much the way in which a freewheeling carpenter constructs a shelter: I build a painterly structure- beginning with its foundation and its skeleton- using a rich variety of painting techniques that I make and re-make multiple times until I arrive at a specific site and space. The use of color and light aim to trigger an emotional read that connects to the viewer’s personal memories. The ultimate goal is to make paintings effective enough to empower the viewer to analyze and reflect upon their reality.

EMAIL: chris@tinashurts.com

WEBSITE: tinashurts.com

CV: (download pdf)