Name: Kim Christman
Website: http://kimchristman.blogspot.com/
What do you do? I’m learning seamstressing in college, paint, draw and run an online vintage store called
Where can we find your work? On my blah-g and I currently have an exhibit at Curl Up & Dye beauty parlour in
What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough? Women in roles is huge for me, be it fantasy or reality. Labeling or grouping of women “The facade of association” from witches to nuns, princesses to maids, etc. Persona, duty and the specific style of dress that goes along with it. Vulnerability, impending doom, confined spaces. I’m no raging feminist but certain subjects concerning women, historically and currently fascinate me. Endangered species, cult heroes, Egyptian art, catholic paraphernalia. The look in one’s eyes, what there saying or not saying have all had inspiration. Motivation is a car sometimes stalled on the side of a road, for me it sparks up suddenly and I must go with it at that time. It can be a combination of my love for the arts and being disenchanted with what’s going on in the world. The media puts a bad taste in my mouth, the modern portrayal of women in popular media is enough motivation for a lifetime. It’s fake and dehumanizing (they love it though) like a rat being hand fed cheese. If you don’t relate, you can’t sit and complain, get off your ass and do something different.
What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process? I feel all of it is important, from start to finish. Having the idea or concept and going through the process of formation. When I start with an idea, part of the motivation is to see the end result because it’s never really how I imagined it. The final interpretation is a special thing.
Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you? Germ free adolescents, hard boiled Barbara Stanwyk, Raymond Pettibon, Egon Schiele, I’ve always absorbed art through music, film and styles of paint. The aesthetics of the expressionism era and Soviet art of propaganda are amongst my favorite.
If you could be any fictional character who would you be? I would be Medusa; she was an innocent curious girl who became a victim of circumstance and lived life under a curse. Kind of like me. I’d love to turn all kinds of assholes into stone and have the most beautiful head of snakes. I’d also love to be a Mermaid, they lived a much more carefree existence.
When do you get your best ideas? When I’m in a disconcerting state of mind is when I feel compelled to drive myself most. An undesirable yet enlightened force. Usually when I’m desperate; struggling to survive, the build up of poverty, hunger, longing and restlessness. That sort of energy has to be directed somewhere. I go through the motions with the art and it distracts me. When completed I feel a sense of rebirth and those trivial day to day stresses fade. I see beauty in most things, being in nature, colors and shapes, the changing of seasons all play an effect on my mood.
What materials/tools do you use most to create your work? Acrylic, watercolor, gouache, chalk, variety of inks, pencils, fabric, recycled goods
Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work? I’m self taught. I’ve never taken an art class, except in high school. It’s affected my work in positive and negative ways. I struggle with certain techniques. I never had a teacher tell me it was wrong or do it like this, which I’m grateful for, it’s influenced my art to come from a personal place. There are flaws, unevenness, that isn’t necessarily done on purpose, it’s how it comes out and that style is an interpretation of the piece, it fits into what I’m trying to convey, whatever it is. When it comes down to it, I believe above being self taught or educated, one must possess imagination and life experience, although kid’s art is the epitome of pure.
If your creative work was edible what would it taste like? Blood orange juice and vodka. A bloody screwdriver?
When you are not creating what do you like to do? I scheme on how to get out of this town. Travel or stay in, I know how boring. Relax, cook and escape through books, music and sleep. I whip it up once and awhile.
How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience? Frances Marin and I had a DJ night called Red Alert. I started out drawing/designing the fliers for it, the music we played had an influence on the art. I didn’t want to cheapen ourselves or disrespect the music by copying already made graphics (although out of laziness I did a time or two) no matter what though it was cut and paste, none of it was ever computer generated. It was a start that drove my desire.
What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures? Don’t make art for zen, well, do whatever zens you but from my experience creating can take it out of you. It can cause anxiety and takes time. If it’s in you, you won’t need advice, the desire will be present and you won’t have a choice really. Work hard! Keep a journal of ideas, turn your computer off.
A fascinating read, Ms. Kim Christman, now I am left in a nostalgia, euphoria. And blood orange vodkas, what a concoction! (smiling....)
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