"Steam", by Christina Haglid, is a small, exquisite watercolor. A single nasturtium is suspended inside a paper lantern, floating on turbulent water, the steam escaping from the lantern propelling it forward. The fragility of the environment has always played an important role in Haglid's work. As a child growing up on the East Coast, the ever changing seaside landscapes intrigued her. This fragile balance between nature and her subject matter is as delicate as a paper lantern floating on the ocean.
Christina Haglid
Steam, 2019
watercolor and gouache on paper
8h x 9w in
20.32h x 22.86w cm
CMH034
Artist's Statement
Tiny Sanctuaries
There has always been an intersection between the process of writing and the act of painting in my work. It has somehow been my guide. In the last four years, during the making of this work, that connection intensified as I started writing short stories and flash fiction while taking online classes. I find the process of writing and painting so different in almost every way, but there is something freeing and generative in writing which helps my painting process. Or perhaps it's a reminder of what painting is for me - something intuitive that needs to be trusted. And what they do have in common is a desire to encapsulate and distill a single moment, a story, about the complexity of our emotions and experiences.
At the heart of my work is the recurring depiction of perseverance, strength of will, and a subtle optimism. Symbolically through the objects, precarious situations depict a moment of possible difficulty, often involving the influence of nature. A paper crane left in the snow. A boat nearly filled to the brim, but not submerged and able to drain its own contents carefully. A slide alone at night which will return to its purpose during the day. My intention is to not show the failure because I imagine all these objects make it through to better times. Allegories of survival. Someone comes by and finds the paper crane, the rowboat owners return and see their boat undisturbed, and the slide during the day brings joy.
EDUCATION
1993 M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art
1991 B.F.A., Maryland Institute, College of Art
1990 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
EXHIBITIONS
2019 "Tiny Sanctuaries", Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL
2015 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2013 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2012 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2011 “Gallery Group” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Meticulous Details: Conservators' Paintings" The Architrouve, Chicago, IL
2010 “Art Chicago” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2009 “Botanica” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 “Botanicus” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 “Arts Botanica” Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
2005 “Blumen: Group Show” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004-05 “Think Small” Illinois State Museum, IL [traveled]
“Christina Haglid: Microworlds” Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC [solo exhibition]
2004 “Art Chicago” Navy Pier, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003 “Small to Mighty” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002 “Art of the 20th Century” NY Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, NY, NY
“Art Chicago” Navy Pier, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2001 “Group Fusion” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000 "Small & Mighty II" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Christina Haglid, New Work and Amy Lowry-Poole, Bugs and Buds" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1999 “Small & Mighty” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Views II” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 “Maleri” Galleri Carl Michael Bellman, Stockholm, Sweden
“1987 – 1997, A Skowhegan Decade, Alumni Exhibition and Benefit Auction” David Beitzel Gallery, NY, NY
“On and Off the Wall, Gallery Group” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1997 “15 x 15” (Alumni Exhibition), Thesis Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1996 “Small Works” Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, IL., Special Recognition Award
1994 “Unknown Chicago” Gallery 312, Chicago, IL
“15 x 15” (Alumni Exhibition), Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1993 “Graduate Summer Exhibition” Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
“Graduate Thesis Exhibition” Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
“Michigan Fine Arts Competition” Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association, Birmingham, MI
1992 “Word of Mouth” Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1991 “Drawing: A Covert and Private Affair” West Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
“Senior Exhibition” Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1990 “Fiber Exhibition”
Fox Gallery...