Christina Zimpel

Christina Zimpel is an Australian artist that has previously received a BA in Graphic Design at Curtin University. Since then, Zimpel has moved to New York where she practices as an artist in her studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Before Zimpel transitioned to a full-time practicing artist, her career began as an Art Director for magazines such as Vouge. We can see her knowledge and influence of design industries reflected in her non-realistic use of colour, simplified shapes, and bold graphic compositions.

The women in Zimpel’s works are depicted in unusual forms - suggesting a not quite perfect, otherworldly image. This is a feeling that she is familiar with as society and social media rapidly and continuously change the norms and ideas of the ‘feminine’. These observations of her daily life infiltrate her work as even her colour palettes in her pieces are subversive rather than soft and feminine, bringing back the glam and love of punk rock from her youth.

In the first stages of her work, Zimpel begins by drawing in pencil before overlaying with ink and then acrylic paint. This gives the piece layers and a structure that provides a rich colour and opacity. The lathering of mediums reflects how she is focused on getting into her model’s mind to discover and portray their truths in the painting - peeling back these layers and placing them on the paper allows her to do this effectively.

Christina Zimpel has exhibited globally in areas such as Australia, Denmark, Los Angeles, Belgium, New York and Oakland as well as in group exhibitions such as our Origins show here at Rhodes and 30 Year Celebration at Olsen Gallery, Australia.