Christina Christensen is a visual artist living and working in Denmark. She explores the language of nature and biodiversity, using tactile fibers with natural and leftover materials. She wants to challenge our actions and thoughts about nature and question the western lifestyle, while harnessing the beauty of imperfection, slow living and nordic aesthetic.
What was the inspiration for your Steinbeisser pieces?
The ever changing lines in the sand and the materials.
Describe your work in 3 words!
Intuitive. Tactile. Poetry.
What kind of materials do you use and where do you get them from?
I mainly use natural materials found in my local surroundings, combined with materials left over from secondhand shops or deadstock. The works for Steinbeisser are made from rustic linen and cotton yarns found in a local secondhand shop, and plants from the roadside near my home.
Which conscious lifestyle choices are you making and are you considering any new ones?
After graduating as industrial/commercial textile designer in 2006, one of my first supplier visits was 7 days in India and 5 days in Istanbul. My experience there led to a mindful change and I became a graphic designer instead. Since then I have struggled with a constructive attention on the western lifestyle and it resulted in different lifestyle choices. Since 2010, approximately 90% of my wardrobe and furniture are found secondhand and our use of organic foods in the family has increased, close to 100%. Also I’ve been trained in working and thinking fast, so when I founded my design studio in 2016 I’ve tried to become better at being slow and to focus, and I’m still learning.
What have you rebelled against in the past and what are you rebelling against now?
I’m a natural rebel. If not, I would not be a designer and an artist. It took me many years to become aware and accept that it is part of my nature and lies deep within me to disrupt everything and making it an ability instead to see things in a different light.