Christine Cōver was born in 1988 and is living and working in Washington DC. She has a BFA in drawing and painting and a Master's degree in art education from University of Missouri. Christine uses acrylic, oil stick, and pastel on raw canvas to experiment with floating marks or shapes of color, balanced with representational objects grounded on a hard-edge surface. She explores the relatedness between observation and feeling.
How did you get into art?
My mother is an artist, so I inherited my interest in art from an early age. I became more serious about pursuing art in high school, then received my BFA in drawing and painting in college, which equipped me with the resources and skills to continue my growth as an artist outside of education.
How would you describe your style? What makes your work special?
A former instructor referred to me as a Colorist—an artist drawn to and dependent on the expressive language of color. I believe that describes how I approach my current work. I use color and mark-making to evoke an emotional response to a particular moment or experience, exploring the relatedness between observation and feeling. My work is both technical and structured, contrasted with loose and intuitive.
How do you go about developing your work?
I often intuit my way through a painting, with no pre-conceived plan or sketch. This allows me to be open to what the painting wants to be, instead of forcing into something. I think of the blank canvas as a problem I need to solve, and I've reached the solution once I make my last mark. The process in between is the problem-solving process where I consider composition, concept, cohesion, and creativity.
Who or what influences you?
Living in Washington DC, I've become increasingly inspired by the artists of the Washington Color School. They have certainly influenced the way I employ a heightened sense of color to access the nature of a specific subject matter, while also considering color a subject matter in itself - Investigating the tension between color AND subject and color AS subject. I'm also influenced by my environment. Walking through Capitol Hill observing the changes of the seasons, what I hear outside my window while working in my studio, the mood I'm in given a particular day, etc.
Make us curious. What is planned next?
I'm planning on creating paintings on room dividers made from multiple canvases. This will make the painting almost like an installation - free standing and in the round. I'm excited to see how this evolves my use of composition and technique.
