PRACTICE

Born

Auckland, NZ 1988

Education

University of Manitoba, (BFA), 2007-2010

Chelsea College of Art & Design (MFA) 2010-2011

University of Otago, (MS) 2024-2026

– paints compositions of fluid and broken strokes where colors mingle harmoniously and in tangles. Her oil on canvas and paper works document a life of varied and constant travel. But it would be limiting and inaccurate to describe them as just landscapes or travelogues. The paintings mine the environments that make all of our conscious and subconscious realities. The work invites connection to places unexplored and to spaces ingrained in each of us. Nature can be a soothing presence that slows or inner workings, but that leaves us asking nature to do even more on our behalf. Christabel’s work melts our vision of this other entity to ask how do we build a more reciprocal relationship.

– searching seems inherent to being in nature, as humans are always asking something of it. When we wander into nature’s chaos, in search of calm and connection, it cascades over us yet leaves us outside of its fluidity. Through extensive travel, Christabel’s work goes beyond a travelogue or attempt at connection; her paintings and drawings impress upon us a unifying truth about landscapes: that whether it be the French countryside, the mountains of Hong Kong, or the Galapagos Islands, we are the cacophony and that by attempting to ask less of it, the likelihood of a version of harmony is greater.