Christine Wang, “California Paintings”, 2015.
Christine Wang’s artwork is not for the faint of heart.
Primarily a painter, Wang’s work is both sardonic and confrontational, playing with a variety of mediated images toward an end point that may never arrive. Not that Wang’s work is existential in nature; rather, there is a resolute emotional processing that occurs, something that the LA-based artist understands intrinsically. Her artwork is very much connected with her political activism, which brings up questions about individuality, power dynamics and a lack of control.
“Art is a really great way for me to work out my emotions, especially feelings of guilt or helplessness,” says Wang. “I can do the political work as a problem solving thing and I can make art to help keep me calm and let my feelings about the political work come out.”
Certainly that sentiment is echoed in some of her direct paintings like “Speak Truth to Power” and “ACAB” (All Cops are Bastards), which relate directly to Wang’s work in prison reform. As an activist, she works with Critical Resistance LA (CRLA) and Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), which are both working toward abolishing the prison industrial complex.
Read more at http://www.craveonline.com/art/934825-christine-wang-art-lust-longing-politics#olWwcKtz6uvd98eY.99
