Cristabel Christo
Artist
Cristabel's work...
is best described as Outsider Art, or Art Brut, a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane asylum inmates and this is a subject that pre-occupies Cristabel. Her art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, and elaborate fantasy worlds. For many reasons, she prefers to remain outside the "art world" mainstream.
Cristabel talks of being inspired to become an artist when she came across the work, "Rendezvous du Dimanche 6 Février 1916", by Duchamp. It consisted of four postcards fitted together implying a message but without actual meaning, which Duchamp presented to his neighbours Walter and Louise Arensberg. "I don't particulary feel the need to be understood, but I do have a strong compulsion to communicate", she explains.
In spite of the faintly historical associations in some of this art, the images clearly relate to the artist's personal life. As diverse as her work is, each piece is clearly recognisable as a 'Christo'.
There is a strange aura surrounding this artist, an almost impenetrable wall that so obscures her it is impossible to differentiate fact from fiction. She seems lost in a world of her own and the number of followers peering into this world is growing steadily. Only collectors of her art can truly get close to understanding this incredible artist. Cristabel's work is collected widely in both the USA and Europe. Her work is on view in galleries as far apart as California and Italy.
Expand
Shrink