Christine Olmstead
Christine Olmstead is a conceptual and abstract mixed-media artist based in Northern Virginia. Her works have been widely exhibited across the United States since she released her first collection in 2015. Olmstead describes her paintings as “internal landscapes” that attempt to give tangible form to inner emotions and universal human experiences that include unbridled joy, grief, love and more. She produces her works through a meditative process and devotes particular attention to movement, light, color, and sound.
Olmstead views her paintings as restorative icons that remind viewers to seek peace and promote play and joy in their daily lives. Olmstead was named a 2022 Repaint History winner and recognized by Gillian Jason gallery for her professional achievements. In 2022 she completed two international residencies one in Orquevaux, France and he second residency in Belgrade Serbia. Christine works in series and is excited to reveal her new series on motherhood in 2024.
MOTHER
Artist Statement
My pregnancy was debilitating. I could barely function as a human being. Now, my baby is six months old and while I feel physically and mentally recovered, time is my biggest challenge. All of these paintings have been made with my baby on my lap or her strapped to my chest or back. Each painting is pierced with acrylic gilded chains symbolizing the irrevocable nature of motherhood. It is beautiful, it is a treasured honor, but it is heavy, and it is forever. Whether your children are here, whether they are grown, whether you’ve lost a child, or whether you’re just beginning your journey like me–motherhood pierces us and leaves us altered. So too with these works I wish to convey the gravity, the honor, the beauty, the pleasure of motherhood, while also depicting the way it binds us for life, and changes us forever.
Warrior In The Rain, 2024