ABOUT
Artist Bio
Artist - Photographer -
Sometimes Environmental Scientist
Laid back and unassuming, Christina occasionally breaks through her introvertedness with her dry sense of humor, qualities reflected in her fine art nature photography, whether it be a portrait of a seed head or the comings and goings of crocheted bunnies. Although she grew up in the big city, she finds she can’t get far away enough into isolation living in the mix of suburban-rural-small town life of Pennsylvania. Her perspective on life is influenced by the interdisciplinary training in the environmental sciences and chemistry and literary works and film. This thinking-outside-the-box mentality shows in her artistic work.
Christina’s worlds unceremoniously grab the viewer and transport them into a new reality, where it is intimate, solitary, fleeting, and expressively tranquil. These worlds are explosions of color even in its subdued hues and explored in perspectives not typically chosen by others.
She obtained her photographic technical skills attending the Hallmark Institute of Photography. There, she studied under Gregory Heisler, David Turner, and guest lecturers who included Lindsay Adler, Sam Abel, Jay Maisel, and many others. Always drawn to nature, Christina intuitively communicates with her subject to bring out their inner beauty. Her recurring themes found in the worlds she creates are to see beyond the boundaries and limitations of society and one’s self, to dream and explore, to notice and observe what is overlooked, and to bring out the light and soul of what she sees.
My Processes
Artist Statement
Nature - my solace. Where I felt my soul lift up in happiness. A world where light, beauty, dreams, and hidden worlds live. It is infused into each brush stroke of my Chinese name where flowers, a garden, water, and the emotions of the heart reside. A world where I seek to soothe my broken spirit; to play, or to explore.
In many aspects of my life, I find I take the harder, less traveled path. It is so with my art. My process takes on the intuitive form. My path to creation doesn’t necessarily stem from something that is pre-planned. It celebrates exploration; uncovering patterns, colors, forms that my eye sees as interesting…unusual, beautiful. It can be finding a mini scene within a capture that surprises me when it reveals itself, either in person or on my computer screen. I am looking to either capture the light and beauty I see directly in front of me or to find it and tease it out in post-production. It is using my intuition to guide me to discovering the image that wants to be told. It is about creating without set boundaries, with freedom to imagine, redefine what is, and to expand borders. I use landscapes, at varying scales, colors, and my perspectives to invoke emotions bounded in nature. I offer my visions in the hopes of inspiring others to dream, to spread more light and beauty into one’s life and today’s world, to foster curiosity, and to shed society’s limitations of what is and what isn’t. Because, when you dream and explore, there are no boundaries except for the limits of one’s imagination.
My Processes
Someone once asked me about my process in creating art. I really had to think about this. Here is what I don't do. I don't create fine art like most artists or photographers. I don't create from a deep emotional, sometimes dark, state. I don't fuss a lot with technique, though I may use some to get to my final image. I don't see the final image in my head unless I am after something very specific for a pre-defined purpose (example, commercial sets).
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I do create out of intuition, otherwise known as intuitive art. This is interwoven with the themes that have influenced my life and way of thinking. In synchronicity with the themes of exploration, not being bound by limits, and curiosity, I follow the urgings of my inner self, letting my intuition guide me as to where the light and beauty in nature reside, what subject to shoot, and how to capture it.
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My intuition tells my eyes to look over there to find the beauty, to cock my head to one side and evaluate the light, the inner glow emanating from the plant, the tree, the pattern, wanting to show itself. And, I, in response, use my camera to capture what my self sees. It guides me in how to photograph the subject, what angle, how close, how far, how fast, how slow. The subject and my self must commune on another wavelength, sharing and receiving energy, a tranquility, a comfortable shared space, living in the moment.
Here is my very first behind-the-scenes video. I take you along with me on an early morning exploration of a local state park and show you what I see and look for to capture an image. I apologize for the dizzying movement at the very beginning of the video.
In post-process - it is about exploration, still. Going through some rudimentary steps of color calibration, lens correction, increasing/decreasing exposure, highlights, blacks, etc. And, then, the image, the subject, once again communes with my inner self. It lets me know how much color, which color it needs, how it wants to look, to be displayed, what parts should be in focus. All these little tidbits is telling me how it wants its light and beauty to shine through for the world to see. I want to be seen, not overlooked, not dismissed. To be understood. To feel that connection with another soul. To be lifted and to lift others at the spiritual level. Because, all we ever want is that feeling of openness, of freedom, knowing no bounds, to soar, to imbibe in happiness and serenity.
Another first, this is a video going through the edits of one of the images I took as seen in the video above. I hope it helps give insight to my decision making in the digital darkroom.
Curriculum Vitae
Juried Group Exhibitions
Bristol Art Museum, Breadth and Depth Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, Bristol, RI, USA, February 4-March 24,
2024, (under One Water, One Story)
Cross Currents Gallery, Outsiders, Online, USA, February 2024
Closeup Photographer of the Year 5 (CUPOTY 5), The Top 100, Online, United Kingdom,
January 2024
Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (WAAM), Behind the Veil, Woodstock, NY, USA, October 13-
November 12, 2023
Womenswork.art, Seen/Heard A Celebration of BIPOC Feminine Artistry, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA, July 7-
August 26, 2023
CloudFolios, Retrospectives, Online (Tampa, Florida, USA), May 6, 2022
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, '555 Special’ Art Exhibition - Summer 2021, Online (Palm Springs,
CA, USA), July 5 - September 15, 2021
Tall Sequoia Gallery, Abstract My World, Online (Toronto, Canada), September 2020
LoosenArt/Millepiani, Environment Documenta, Rome, Italy, April 24-May 1, 2019
Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Nature in Photographs, Slatington, PA, USA, March 2018
Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, Landscapes, Online (Everett, PA, USA), October 2016
COE Gallery, Lancaster, PA, USA, February 2015
Honors
Bristol Art Museum, Breadth and Depth Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, Honorable mention - Fire, Bristol, RI,
USA, February 4-March 24, 2024, (under One Water, One Story)
Cross Currents Gallery, Outsiders, 8th place, Lesser Than, Online, USA, February 2024
Closeup Photographer of the Year 5 (CUPOTY 5), Human Made category, Finalist, Top 100, From
Within III, Online, United Kingdom, January 2024
World Art Awards, Category #46: Manipulated Landscape, 2nd Place, Beyond, Online, USA, June 2023
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, “555 Special Art Exhibition - Summer 2021”, Special
Recognitions - Grace and Opportunities II, Online, (Palm Springs,CA, USA), July 5 -
September 15, 2021
Creative Siena Awards, Conceptual category, Finalist, Galaxy Quest, Siena, Italy, June 2020
Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, Landscapes, Honorable mention - Remembrance, Online (Everett, PA,
USA), October 2016
Publications
Environment Documenta Catalogue Exhibition, 2019
The Lancaster County Photography Meetup 2018 Photo Book, 2018
4th Annual Lancaster County Photography Meetup Book, 2015
Education
Certificate of Completion, Hallmark Institute of Photography, 2012
Master of Science, Pennsylvania State University, 2006
Bachelor of Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 1998