Artist's Statement

CHRISTINA PETTERSSON explores resurrection and savage demise on a grand scale once reserved for history painting. Her large drawings and sculptures reference classic mythology and literature, and include herself as the recurring female figure surrounded by animals, most particularly birds. These otherworldly landscapes reveal a deep allegiance to the wilderness of a bygone era, and the experience of a world in decline.

She writes, "I want to restore that epic and mythological dimension, a sense of awe and reverence for the world. The fact is they are not much about my personality. I want to be a storyteller. I want to believe that life is still wild."

More recently, in addition to video and sculptural installations, she has curated and staged group performances and public programming throughout her native South Florida. These include major performances at the Miami International Book Fair, the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a National Historic Landmark in Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Deering Estate, and the Coconut Grove Convention Center. These events have allowed Pettersson’s work to become a true engagement with the community, dissolving boundaries, utilizing the talents of a variety of people and organizations with limited resources, and educating and delighting by innovative means.

Pettersson has attended residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Yaddo, TSKW, VCCA, the Deering Estate, and Everglades National Park. She received a Fulbright Grant to return to Sweden, attending Valand School of Fine Arts in Gothenburg, as well as the Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship twice, the largest regionally sponsored grant in the US. She has exhibited work at the Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, the Birmingham Museum, the Columbus Museum, the Wiregrass Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art. She is published thrice in New American Paintings, and had a documentary made about her for ArtnetTV. She embarked on her first major public art project at the Miami International Airport and Kinloch Park this winter. Her drawings were recently on display at the Perez Art Museum in Miami. Her work is in major collections throughout the country. 

Artist's Links

Artist's website:  www.christinapettersson.com