Chris has been working as a professional artist since completing her BA (Fine Arts) in 1989 at Monash University.
The desire and need to express herself artistically has been a
consistent force since her childhood. Her most significant influence is
her grandmother who at 103 years of age is still painting and
exhibiting! Chris greatly admires the works of the artists Jim Dine, Osca
Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Georgia O'Keefe and Picasso.
Working in a variety of mediums (oils,inks,charcoal,pastels,acrylic &
collage) her work is of the personal expressed in a universal sense.
Everyday images and objects are imbued with symbolic meaning.
Fragmentation, layering and overlapping echo fractured time. A feeling
of stillness is created within crowded spaces echoing modern feelings of
alienation and isolation.
Use of collage is an important aspect of the work. It strengthens the
subtext of the original idea, creates texture as well as use as a
drawing tool. It also attests to modern issues of impermanency and
consumerism.
The work in all mediums begin as free floating scattered chaos awaiting
organisation and resolution. The superficial, layered,destroyed in part
then reworked, echo the search for meaning.
The work (After Burn 2000) was
(a) produced as a banner advertising 2001 Daffodil Day Awards,
(b) reproduced as the cover for Victorian Breast Cancer Research
Consortium Inc Quarterly Report
(c) is currently on loan to the Anti Cancer Council.
Chris has been exhibiting consistently in group and solo shows since
1985 and is currently represented by Mira Gallery, Flinders Street, Melbourne
and The Pantechnicon Gallery, Daylesford.
Chris lives and works in Melbourne.