Christina Shmigel American, b. 1958
Works
Overview
Christina Shmigel interprets the places in which she lives through her sculpture and installation art. As a former resident artist at the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, China, she looks to the city of Shanghai to inspire and inform her work. In order to make sense of her experiences in this new and vibrant city, she draws from her study of Chinese garden design in her latest installation at the Shanghai Duolun MoMA. Unlike the collections of flowers and lawns that define American gardens, Chinese gardens attempt to represent inside their contained spaces an idealized view of the spaces and structures of the external world. They are dense with pavilions and walkways, interior and exterior spaces that flow into and out of each other. Their windows frame miniaturized views that mimic vast landscapes. Inscriptions abound, enhancing the sensual experience with the literary. Water passes under foot, mirrors and inverts structures, carries the viewer from the hard ground of the "real" world into a space of timelessness and reverie.
Exhibitions
