ARTIST STATEMENT: LIMINAL TRANSCENDENCE
This series is about discovering moments of wonder in ordinary places. Each painting depicts a view from a parking lot – including the “parking lots” of traffic jams – oriented towards the grandeur of the sky.
“Liminal” continues my exploration of the in between. Parking lots, a main subject in the work, are threshold spaces, neither here nor there, and rarely a starting point or destination. Ephemeral skies change at the pace of life. The paintings are windows to and pauses in these transitory spaces. While based on real places, I play with color and composition to create an invented space and sky, somewhere between real and imagined, a viewfinder into another world.
Transforming an unremarkable place can lead to a moment of transcendence. When I moved to the car culture of Los Angeles, I invented a “treasure hunt” to counteract my feelings of overstimulation - pausing at destinations to take a beat and immerse myself in the surroundings. In appreciating a ray of light casting a facade into sharp relief, sky drawings made by jet streams, or Lego-like geometry of distant buildings, I found my mood lifted. Paying attention to the present moment allows for a mental shift away from anxiety towards curiosity and wonder.
While whimsical, these paintings are not glib. Life’s somber realities are recognized in subtle undercurrents – a lingering rain cloud, the ambiguity of time of day, an asymmetrical composition. The absence of people, cars or signage. Rather than creating a void, this opens up space for the viewer to enter. These paintings are invitations to lose oneself in moments of solitude and reflection, and to then engage in life with new eyes, seeking out wonder anywhere.
This series is about discovering moments of wonder in ordinary places. Each painting depicts a view from a parking lot – including the “parking lots” of traffic jams – oriented towards the grandeur of the sky.
“Liminal” continues my exploration of the in between. Parking lots, a main subject in the work, are threshold spaces, neither here nor there, and rarely a starting point or destination. Ephemeral skies change at the pace of life. The paintings are windows to and pauses in these transitory spaces. While based on real places, I play with color and composition to create an invented space and sky, somewhere between real and imagined, a viewfinder into another world.
Transforming an unremarkable place can lead to a moment of transcendence. When I moved to the car culture of Los Angeles, I invented a “treasure hunt” to counteract my feelings of overstimulation - pausing at destinations to take a beat and immerse myself in the surroundings. In appreciating a ray of light casting a facade into sharp relief, sky drawings made by jet streams, or Lego-like geometry of distant buildings, I found my mood lifted. Paying attention to the present moment allows for a mental shift away from anxiety towards curiosity and wonder.
While whimsical, these paintings are not glib. Life’s somber realities are recognized in subtle undercurrents – a lingering rain cloud, the ambiguity of time of day, an asymmetrical composition. The absence of people, cars or signage. Rather than creating a void, this opens up space for the viewer to enter. These paintings are invitations to lose oneself in moments of solitude and reflection, and to then engage in life with new eyes, seeking out wonder anywhere.
BIOGRAPHY
Christine Rasmussen is an American artist raised in Pakistan, Vietnam and the United States. She received her BA (Double Major - Art Practice and Peace & Conflict Studies) from the University of California, Berkeley. Rasmussen has exhibited in multiple juried exhibitions and her work is in private collections worldwide. Her work has been featured in Not Real Art’s Q+Art, ShoutOut LA, Artillery, Art & Cake and Voyage LA among others. She was awarded a Chalk Hill Artist Residency, was commissioned for the prestigious Artist Label Program at Imagery Estate Winery, and her work is in the Hilbert Museum of California Art. Rasmussen lives and works in Los Angeles.
Christine Rasmussen is an American artist raised in Pakistan, Vietnam and the United States. She received her BA (Double Major - Art Practice and Peace & Conflict Studies) from the University of California, Berkeley. Rasmussen has exhibited in multiple juried exhibitions and her work is in private collections worldwide. Her work has been featured in Not Real Art’s Q+Art, ShoutOut LA, Artillery, Art & Cake and Voyage LA among others. She was awarded a Chalk Hill Artist Residency, was commissioned for the prestigious Artist Label Program at Imagery Estate Winery, and her work is in the Hilbert Museum of California Art. Rasmussen lives and works in Los Angeles.
RESUME
b. 1987 - Karachi, Pakistan
Works in Los Angeles, CA EDUCATION 2009 Bachelor of Arts, Art Practice (with honors) and Peace & Conflict Studies University of California, Berkeley, CA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2022 Liminal Transcendence, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2021 And..., Keystone Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2018 Fenomenal, LAUNCH LA, Los Angeles, CA 2014 Flawless, Los Gatos Beauty Bar, Los Gatos, CA 2012 Before the Leap, UP Collective, Austin, TX 2005 IB Art Senior Exhibition, Hilton Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam SELECTED TWO-PERSON AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2022 The Cityscape Show XII: Iconic, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2022 Seattle Art Fair George Billis Gallery LA, Seattle, WA 2022 Art Market SF, Booth E07, George Billis Gallery LA, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 2022 Venice Family Clinic Art Walk & Auction, Santa Monica, CA 2022 California Love, Cactus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2021 The Cityscape Show XI, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2021 Venice Family Clinic Art Walk & Auction, Santa Monica, CA 2020 The Cityscape Show X: Concrete and Earth, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2020 Representational Abstract 3, BG Gallery online exhibit on ARTSY 2020 In Real Life, Keystone Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2019 The Nothing That Is, Brand Art Center, Glendale, CA 2019 The Ladies Room, presented by Jen Tough Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2019 Agglomeration, Keystone Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2018 Wishlist 6, Gabba Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2018 Los Angeles Invitational, Art Essex at George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2018 Architectural Memory, Vedder Price & Associates with Patter Hellstrom Visual Art, Century City, CA 2018 Memories on Location, Keystone Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2017 Meet the Artists, The Pacific Art Foundation with SCAPE Jeannie Denholm & Associates Art Advisory, Newport Beach, CA 2017 5th Annual Coaster Show, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2017 Startup Art Fair, Hotel del Sol, San Francisco, CA 2017 LA Interiors & Exteriors, Pilates & Arts, Los Angeles, CA 2017 Spacial Recognition, Finishing Concepts, Los Angeles, CA 2016 She Was Just a Dream, Washington Reid Gallery, Culver City, CA 2016 4th Annual Coaster Show, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2015 Los Angeles Art Association’s 2015 Open Show, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA 2015 7th Annual 50|50 Show, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA 2015 Showcases, City Art Cooperative Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2012 Building Home, Phoenix Trades Depot, Austin, TX 2012 East of SX Showcase, UP Collective, Austin, TX 2009 Senior Exhibition, Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, CA SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATIONS 2022 American Art Collector, Opportunity and Grit, July issue 2022 Voyage LA, Check Out Christine Rasmussen’s Story, online interview 2021 Exhibition catalog, “The Yin and Yang of Christine Rasmussen’s Recent Paintings”, essay by David S. Rubin 2021 Exhibition catalog, “Coaxing Unexpected Beauty from Industrial Architecture”, essay by Tressa Williams 2021 Not Real Art, Christine Rasmussen on Making Work at the Intersection of Belonging and Isolation, online interview 2021 Among Worlds magazine, cover art, December issue 2020 ShoutOut LA, Local Stories: Christine Rasmussen, online interview 2019 Art & Cake, A Lot of Nothing Adds Up, exhibition review by Lorraine Heitzman 2019 Artillery online, Brand Library and Art Center: The Nothing That Is, exhibition review by Genie Davis 2018 Voyage LA, Check out Christine Rasmussen’s Artwork, online interview 2018 Singulart, The US painter Christine Rasmussen about femininity and boundaries, online interview 2018 Art & Cake, Dreamlike Works by Holly Elander & Christine Rasmussen, exhibition review by Genie Davis 2018 Exhibition catalog, “Phenomenal Femininity: The Art of Christine Rasmussen”, essay by Betty Ann Brown 2017 Apéro International Fine Art Catalogue, Curator Review: Beyond, November issue 2017 Modern Art Blitz, “Featured Artist Christine Rasmussen”, Episode #63 AWARDS, RESIDENCIES, SPECIAL PROJECTS 2022 Featured Artist, Art2Life interview 2021 Grantee and Featured Artist, Culver City Arts Foundation & Helms Bakery Projecting Possibilities Grant 2021 Grantee, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Emergency Relief (AER) Fund 2020 Juror, Exhibitions Selection Committee, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA 2019 Guest Curator, Brand Art Center, “The Nothing That Is”, Glendale, CA 2017 Featured Artist, Imagery Estate Winery Artist Label Program, Glen Ellen, CA 2017 Resident, Chalk Hill Artist Residency, Healdsburg, CA |
PRESS
American Art Collector / July 2022
Voyage LA Magazine / March 2022 Not Real Art / December 2021 Among Worlds Magazine / December 2021 ShoutOut LA / May 2020 Voyage LA Magazine / May 2018 Singulart / April 2018 Apéro International Fine Art Catalogue / November 2017 |
