Christina Zimpel

Christina Zimpel (Perth, 1961) grew up in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in New York and works in her studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Faces, bodies, and even the occasional still life come to life with a bold yet minimalist approach. Zimpel’s works seem to float in an alternative space, where what she delineates with her brush or her striking, saturated color choices is as crucial to the image as what she decides to omit, sublimate, or suggest. “I exaggerate, reduce, and modernize archetypes,” she states.

Her figures, typically feminine and with a Victorian air, are depicted in restrained poses using unconventional color combinations, creating a sensation that is as captivating as it is unsettling. Somehow, these large planes of color are charged with emotion and an unrestrained desire to break the rules of figurative painting. The artist attributes this sensitivity to her youth in 1970s Australia, as well as the folkloric teachings of her Hungarian mother, both of which intertwine in her paintings.

However, where Zimpel seems to allow herself the most indulgence is in the poses and stylings of these glamorous (or aspiring-to-be-glamorous) women. Particularly in their luxurious hairstyles, which allow for unbridled brushstrokes that curl and introduce a visual excess into her compositions, alluding to sources of inspiration such as punk, the Belle Époque, and Romanesque art.