Rose Christian

Artist Statement

As a child growing up in a small town in upstate N.Y., I was free to explore the neighboring thickets and cow pastures until called home for dinner. Scratched and muddy, I would return with my pockets full of wonders—a snake skin, toad, feathers, or a jawbone. As a physician-scientist I explored human tissues with a microscope to find those subtle shifts in shape, color and spatiality that signify healing or disease. These experiences in close observation and data collection have shaped my visual language as an artist. I use drawings, prints, paintings, and installations to map, explore, and connect with the more-than-human world around me. Animacy, kinship and symbiosis are themes of my quietly detailed work. Lichen and weed-identified flora that I encounter on walks are both my subjects and collaborators. Locally foraged plants and minerals contribute their pigments to work that celebrates the overlooked life forms that grow in our cracked sidewalks and not in a mythologized wilderness. The act of careful looking can lead to actual caring; my work gives a reason to look more deeply. By honoring the overlooked, I invite viewers to connect with a world that is more than merely human. 

Instagram: @rosechristianstudio

Email: rchristian22@gmail.com

Website: www.rosechristianstudio.com