Christine started quilting in 2002. After making only one quilt following a traditional pattern, she created her first art quilt in 2003. The first time Christine submitted one of her pieces to a judged show, her art quilt “Acceptance and Rejection” won an award in the category “small wall hangings” (North Carolina Quilt Symposium, 2004). Christine creates abstract art quilts and fabric compositions, which often explore emotions, their effect on individuals and their influence on relationships. In addition, she finds inspiration in nature. Since 2004, Christine is a member of the Professional Art Quilt Alliance - South. For PAQA-South, she functioned as the coordinator for the traveling exhibition “FABRICations” during 2004-2006. At the Conference Meeting in the spring of 2006 she was elected vice-president pro tempora. From April 2007 to April 2009 she served as president. During her term as president, Christine led the efforts for PAQA-South to become a non-for-profit organization. She served on the exhibition committee for the national juried exhibition ARTQUILTStransitions and on the committee for the conferences organized in Spring 2007 “It’s All About the Art!” and Spring 2009 “Career Development for Fiber Artists”. Christine’s contemporary fiber art is shown in national exhibitions. Her work is collected in Germany and the United States. Currently, she resides in Durham, NC, with her husband and her son. |
When I was a child my grandmother taught me crochet, all sorts of needlework and sewing on a treadle sewing machine. However, I was only exposed to quilting after I moved to the US in 1999. In the Summer of 2002, I made my first quilt following a pattern from a book. It was a lapquilt, machine-pieced and free-motion quilted, for my grandmother on the occasion of her 87th birthday. This piece was a valuable lesson for me in order to realize that I did not enjoy making repetitive blocks. My next quilt was “Maze on Fire”, the first one based on my own ideas. Feeling comfortable with straight seams, I assembled the center from 400 little squares. Over the years my skills developed: curved seams were added, strict geometric patterns were supplemented with free-form cuts. Besides having a stash of commercially available fabrics I started dyeing and painting my own fabrics. For me dialectic is a fascinating approach for changes. In dialectic, development occurs through the stages of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Contradictory ideas move forward to a consensus, opposing forces interact to find a resolution. My abstract art quilts allow me to depict examples of dialectic through the choice of color, shapes and material. Thematically, I mainly explore emotions, their effect on individuals and their influence on relationships. In my nature-inspired art quilts the dialectic is incorporated by the interpretation of the theme. My education and professional training allowed me to develop an intimate relationship with the most amazing type of art that exists for me. With an MS in biology and a PhD in biochemistry I am exposed to the beauty of nature on a macromolecular scale as well as the intriguing interactions of molecules on a cellular level. Life is a never-ending source of inspiration and art quilts are my way of expression. |
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| Awards | ||
| 2007 | Award for Emerging Artists 2007-2008 presented by the Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC | |
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| Education | ||
Textile Art |
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| (since 2003) | Workshops about quilting techniques with locally, nationally and internationally respected quilters such as Jane Hall, Carol Straus, Julie Mullin, Gail Greene, Lois Smith and Cindy Blackberg | |
| Workshops about surface design with Nisha Drinkard, Jeanette Meyer and Larkin van Horn | ||
| Workshops about art quilting as profession with Hollis Chatelain, Adam Cave, Carle Lyles Shaw, Lynn Jones Ennis, and Cheryl Gallan, amongst others | ||
| Degrees | ||
| 1997 | Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, Germany | |
| 1994 | M.S. in Biology, University of Regensburg, Germany | |
All images on this website are protected by copyright law and no image may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the artist.
Site designed by Christine Hager-Braun 2010.