Christina Zimpel

Before Christina Zimpel transitioned to a full-time practicing artist, her career began as an Art Director for magazines such as Vouge. Her knowledge and influence of design industries is 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.

Focusing on the topic of performance, Zimpel takes particular interest in how people deal with this idea of constant presentation. Theatrical clothing and luscious hair give her work a dramatic atmosphere where there is nowhere to hide, as her intense brushstrokes leave her subjects fully exposed. 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.