Just put it out there and grit your teeth. The rejecting experience will pass. Just keep making the work.
– Christina Bothwell
Where do you find inspiration for your art?
Christina: My inspiration comes from many sources. Seeing and experiencing things in my dreams is my favorite way to get inspiration, but my children and animals also inspire me, as does nature. I also feel lit up and inspired by seeing great art, reading an amazing book, or eating really good ethnic food!
How has your art changed throughout the time you have been an artist- what has your timeline of themes has looked like?
C: I was trained as a painter, but then after art school, I started teaching myself how to work with ceramics. After ten years of making sculpture with clay, I took a couple of workshops in glass casting. My themes have always dealt with Life, death, and rebirth, and vulnerability. That hasn’t really changed much over the years.
Why do you make art? In what way is it fulfilling to your soul? Why is it something you feel like you need to do?
C: I started making art as a kid because it was fun to make things. I loved drawing and writing and trying to capture moments on paper. Making art has always been a way to recharge my battery. It calms me down when I am anxious, and being absorbed and inspired makes me feel more alive, and awake.
What are the techniques you employ – some of these sculptures seem to be very difficult – fusing two pieces together?
C: I use the lost wax process to cast my pieces in glass. I sculpt my pieces first using warmed beeswax. I make the heads of my figures from clay, which I fire separately in a ceramic kiln. Ceramics and glass are not compatible, so each material must be fired separately using a different cooling schedule, so as to avoid cracking. Once my beeswax form is ready, I make a plaster/silica/talc/water mold around it. Once the mold is set, I steam the beeswax out of the plaster mold. When the wax has been removed and the mold is empty, I take chunks of colored glass and glass powders, and I fill the empty mold. Then I fire the glass filled mold in my glass kiln. Sometimes the firing lasts a month or more, depending on the thickness of the glass. Once the firing is finished, and the glass piece has been carefully removed from the mold, I grind and polish the glass until it is smooth and sometimes shiny. Then I attach the ceramic portions of the piece to the glass. After that, I paint imagery on the surface of the glass with oil paint.
You mentioned glass and ceramics are unique and delicate mediums to work with. How did you come to choose these materials, and what challenges and rewards do they present in expressing the emotions and concepts behind your art?
C: I like using glass because it transmits light. This quality makes the work appear ethereal at times. The clay is gritty and earthy. These materials allow me to express the spiritual and the physical elements, together. I find that the translucency of glass allows me to express the spiritual aspect of life, better than any other medium I can think of. It definitely permits things to be seen that were below the surface.
Much of your work is ethereal, introspective, vulnerable, childlike. It evokes a sort of wonder and dream like state, I know it reminds me of being a little girl, and the figures of animals I used to see all the time in books I read, which is nice and precious and a little bit sad; a nostalgic sensation. Is there a certain emotion or experience you are hoping people who witness your art to feel/experience?
C: I often feel childlike when I am working on a piece, so perhaps my sculptures convey that nostalgic feeling for that reason. I strongly believe we are more than just our physical bodies, and sometimes that idea makes people feel squeamish. I don’t really consider how my pieces will make people feel, it is challenging enough to try and express an idea and get it into a piece.
What do animals represent in your work and how do they interact with the human figures or themes you’re exploring?
C: I think animals are no less than we are. I am unable to eat animals for that reason! I know that every animal and living being has a sense of “Me”, just like I do. I try to capture that sense of humanity that I feel in animals.
Could you take us through your creative process, from conceptualization to the finished piece? How do you channel these themes and emotions into your work?
C: When I first get an idea for a piece, it is almost like trying to remember a dream. Sometimes all I have is a feeling, or the sense of a texture or color. I try to doodle and sketch in my sketch book until I have something, and from there I try to start building a piece. Sometimes I make a sculpture from a phrase I’ve heard someone say. A friend who was dying from terminal cancer told me that she hoped after she was gone, her son would remember her. I was so touched by that I made a piece titled, Where Ever I Look, I See You.
Many artists draw from personal experience or stories. Are there any specific life events or narratives that have had a profound influence on your artist journey or themes you explore? Any children’s books or stories?
C: Probably the most profound experiences that inspired me happened when I first gave birth to my oldest daughter, and then later after I had my twins. At night sometimes while I slept, my body fell asleep while my mind remained conscious. I had the sensation of lifting up and separating from my physical body. Sometimes this happened several times a week. I was always lucid and quite wide awake (and amazed!) while this was happening. Once, I met an elderly couple who informed me that I needed to be brave and calm, because they were going to be my children, I was going to give birth to twins. While these experiences were very profound for me, I also thought I was perhaps losing my mind! Especially after I was actually pregnant with twins. Eventually it occurred to me to make some pieces based on these dream experiences.
Are there any films or books that inspire you or that you think about a lot in your work? Any artists?
Daisy Youngblood’s work inspired me to make sculpture. Her work was like a cannonball exploding in my head. I loved the Clint Eastwood movie, Hereafter, and the book, Dying to be Me, by Anita Moorjani (about her near death experience).
How do you feel about images of your art being used in memes and circling around the internet?
I love finding out that my work resonates with people enough to make them remember it, and feel inspired by it!
Could you share any upcoming projects or exhibitions you’re working on, or any future directions in your art that you’re excited about exploring?
I am very proud of being part of the exhibition at the La Halle Museum in Paris, sponsored and curated by Hey! Magazine. The exhibition is up for a year, and I have nine large pieces in the exhibition. Right now I am just getting back into my work after a month of chaos where I wasn’t able to work at all. I am trying to process recent events and see how my work had been influenced by them.
What advice would you give to aspiring artists knowing what you know now?
C: The most important advice I can give to young aspiring artists is to keep working. Don’t give up on yourself, ever! Even if (and when) you experience devastating rejection, try to remember what it felt like to make art when you were a little kid. Try to reconnect with that creative child-like part of yourself. Don’t let someone else’s guidance about you (or negative feedback) drown out your own inner guidance and creativity. Remember that you are the only YOU on this planet, and if you feel compelled to make art, it is because you have a unique message to share with the world. It is not about being the best, or the most famous, or the most socially connected artist, it is about being true to who you are. Anybody that criticizes you, or puts your work down, does not see in your heart, or know what your purpose as an artist is. Even if your work sucks in this moment, nobody knows where your work is going, or what it is going to become. Your work is still developing, and your vision is still coalescing. Treat your art as if it is your precious child. You would protect and nurture your own little child, right? Don’t hide your child in a closet, put it out there and grit your teeth. The rejecting experience will pass. Just keep making the work.
You can find out more about Christina Bothwell on her website and various galleries here:
SydneyLaura.com 