Bone Knit, 2009, sculpey and knit cozy
The Good Girl, 2009, ink and pencil on wooden found object
The Family Reunion, 2009, ink and matches
The Singing Tree, 2010, graphite, ink and acrylic
My current body of work, Entanglements, is a series of quirky and semi-autobiographical drawings, sculptures and video. Red lines run throughout the work as if an attempt to stitch together a broken past, or set it on fire. Using familiar materials in unfamiliar ways, I create impossible, symbolically-charged objects.
I enjoy taking tame, domestic activities like knitting and turning them on their head. Throughout the work, I allude to the complexity of relating to self and other – the hurt, the beauty and the entanglements. An example is “Knitting Meditation for Peace,” a performance and installation that was created between the highly charged dates of 9/11/09 and 9/21/09 (World Day of Peace). During the knitting, I offered my attention as a prayer for peace in the Middle East. – CHRISTEN MATTIX
See more of Christen’s work on her website.
