Artist Statement
“Communication through words or the visual language thrives on intuition. We all have a drive to be around art consciously or unconsciously. For me, it’s a way to nurture what I notice daily and to connect with others. There is a synergy in the search for it, communication around it and the change it can impart.
My work is an amalgamation of my reaction to everyday life. In my daily observation, I am constantly in awe of the beauty in our world, but I am also taken aback by our severe isolation from each other and within ourselves. Art delivers messages and has power to change us. Whether I am photographing or painting, my intention is to tap into this paradox of beauty and nostalgia.
Through the use of layering images in a photograph to painting layers on a canvas, I find myself relying on my instincts to know what medium to use in telling the story of a moment. Each medium and the creative process of layering provide a meditative flow state and anchor me in these moments.
Both my photography and painting provides a window in time, creating space for introspection. Sharing my stories provides a connection for both me and the viewer, because we are all connected and we are all storytellers.”
Biography
Christine Patterson grew up in the hills of Tennessee. Her early years were consumed on her mother’s horse farm developing a connection to both horses and nature. In her twenties, she was introduced to photography as a way to chronicle her daily life on the farm. This passion grew to an insatiable quest to bring her images alive through experimenting in the darkroom to unconventional methods of photographing. Her love for infa-red black and white film brought a new language to her work delving into veiling her subjects and layering images, to create more of a story of mystery and nostalgia. The next thirty plus years were dedicated to learning as much as possible through research, workshops with prestigious photographers, to becoming full time. She has been in numerous galleries, featured in numerous magazines, published two books, became Tennessee’s Bicentennial photographer, has been collected worldwide and is in numerous corporate institutions, museums and pivot collectors homes. She has earned over the years a reputation as an alternative and mixed media fine art phot impressionistic artist.
Then in 2017, Christine and her family moved to the shores of South Carolina. This move ignited a long time passion in the painting world due to the new environment of color and energy that the coast provides. During the pandemic, Christine chose to put her fine art photography on hold and dove into her long time passion of painting, by enrolling in a very prestigious online school. Following the pattern of her early years with photography, she has become immersed in the painting and drawing world, now in her third year of schooling and is highly engaged not only on social media but within her community. She has a photography business running out of her home, as well as a painting studio in Charleston, SC. Christine is also teaching workshops and private coaching.
