Artist of the Week: Christina Shurts

What I find so incredible about the paintings of Christina Shurts is the way she handles, captures, and fixates on light. In whatever structure or scene she is capturing the light, the natural coloration and playfulness of light,plays an important. In fact she seems to paint only because of light. Through this effort she captures the beauty in what my seem ordinary to most.

Christina is graduating from California State University, Long Beach with an MFA in Fine Art this Spring. Her work has been shown around the world. She is currently involved in an exhibit called Structural Through- Line (Coherence) at Lawrence Asher Gallery in LA. Recently, she was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your work seems to focus on structure, namely man-made structures. What is it about these elevated buildings that you find so fascinating?
Christina Shurts (CS): Mostly, I create structures from combining memory, family portraits, and internet searches. By bringing these together in my physical painting process my imagination takes over to create a fantasy world. I hope this world acts as a mirror of our connections in society. I think the man-made structures emphasis the connections we make or break and the absurdly tall stilts reference our battle with the need for solitude against our need to connect. I also think the oddity of the tall buildings leave the structures available for critique by the viewer and adds a needed reprieve from the serious subject matter. Im mean aren't they just odd?

OA: Are these real places or scenes that you are trying to capture or is this a fictional world?
CS: Real places always eek through... but usually its the light I remember from them or if one structure stands out it is early in the series and will become further abstracted by combining it with other places as I progress.

OA: You are currently involved in a show at Lawrence Asher Gallery. Did you attend the opening and what are your thoughts on the show and the gallery?
CS: I attended the opening and celebrated with old and new friends. The other artists included were Andre Yi and Paul Davies... it was a blast to share the spotlight with them. Opening are pretty nice... everyone's out for a night on the town and they are full of good humor and most of all I get to share my work with a larger audience. That helps my compulsion to get my work in front of many eyes as possible. I mean, I spent so much time with my paintings of course I hope others will share that same interest.

OA: How long does it typically take to prepare for a show?
CS: James Panozzo, director of LAG, approached me early in November. He found me through an interview on how to Balance Art and Family facilitated by the amazing painter, Marie Thibeault. They represent an artist highlighted in the article, Philipa Blair. So thanks to being Mom to my daughter, Grace, James came down to Long Beach and gave me a studio visit. He offered me to do this one show "on the spot" . Four months later, here we are. I also have a solo show opening spring 2011 at RARE gallery New York. So I suppose between 4 months and a year would be the typical timeframe to prepare for an exhibition depending on the scale.

OA: You are graduating from California State University, Long Beach this Spring with an MFA in Fine Arts. What will you take away from your time there?
CS: A huge resource of life changing people. CSULB's Art program is large- to say the least-, so we create ways to stay connected. I don't just mean at the local Pub, although that's fun too. We curate and put on an exhibition each Fall, GLAMFA, and it includes graduate students from Southern California MFA programs and beyond. We had a course which took us on a guided tour of New York with our Faculty member and painter Tom Krumpak. Also my committee is the very best... they push me until I cannot be pushed any further and they have offered me avenues for investigating my work that I would have never found on my own. But mostly my studio mates I cherish beyond words. We support each other's diversity and they are inspiring to me every single day I step through the roll-up door. I will miss this most of all when I leave after graduation.

OA: What's next for Christina Shurts?
CS: My work is being included in the next New American Paintings Annual in April. I also have work currently at SCOPE art fair NY thanks to RARE gallery NY. Im in their stable of artists and will be presenting a solo show in Spring 2011. I feel as though I best communicate through painting so I want to "blow the lid off" make some bad ass paintings to share. I want to find representation at a gallery in LA and if Chi town came calling I would come too. Also Im looking forward to a nice vacation this summer... maybe the Outer Banks NC.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would be?
CS: My husband, Cliff, he is so cool.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
CS: Love love love Vampire weekend, all I listen to when I work in the studio is the Vampire Weekend station on Pandora. Their indie rock has exactly the qualities that I find appealing. , A little east coast with some west coast "I don't care", throw in some lyrics that are sweet as pink with a dark edge, and an energy level thats motivating but not to sentimental. So other music that shows up are The Beatles White Album, Pheonix, and the Arctic Monkeys.

For more information on Christina Shurts please visit her website.

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