about
Christina Kwan is an Atlanta-based artist known for her abstract works on paper and large scale murals. Originally from South Florida, Kwan moved to Atlanta in 2010 after graduating from University of Florida with a BFA in Drawing. A decade and many different career paths later, the work she creates is an ongoing exploration of her Asian-American identity and the internal struggle of feeling incomplete or existing in-between. Kwan's work has been shown in a variety of commercial galleries and academic institutions while her murals span all across Metro Atlanta in places such as Emory University, Marietta Square, and Microsoft's Atlantic Yards. Her compositions feature bold and calligraphic brush strokes inspired by her East Asian heritage, acting as a yearning for permanence and a search for ancestral ties.
We exist in-between identities, in-between states both physical and unseen… blooming, falling apart, and starting the cycle over again. The work I create is a study in conscious and unconscious impulses and how they reflect a state of identity that is fluid and impossible to hold onto. I mainly use acrylic ink – pouring, mixing, washing – as I alternate between stages of steady meditation and frenetic mark-making. In the past, I used flowers as a starting point to later abstract into an exquisitely tense oblivion. Now, I start with the oblivion and see what forms reveal themselves from within.There is also an East Asian heritage that permeates my work, through the calligraphic strokes and references to natural landscapes. I was raised to prioritize my Western-born identity as a pathway to success and financial stability, the American Dream. I find myself being ever more drawn to the aesthetic sensibilities of my ancestors even though their legacies remain a mystery to me. My mark holds the energy of their lineage and the unnerving feeling that a filial connection is possibly forever lost. Each work has been an effort to map out a sense of self that is fully realized.
Becoming a mother in 20202 during the height of a global pandemic added a new layer of complexity to this journey. Mothers in this country face difficulties and discrimination that are ingrained in our system and therefore are part of our collective consciousness. Coming to terms with the insidious ways in which our society fails mothers and families at large is a reality that forces me to split my identity into many iterations to fit within different contexts and definitions of what a “good” woman or “good” mother is. This everlasting state of turmoil and tension bubbles below the surface of my work and finds its way out through bursts of action painting.
Ultimately the work I make is about finding balance and equilibrium within the chaos of our struggles. The beauty of being human is that we are not ever in a “finished” state, but rather always growing and evolving toward self-acceptance.
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Exhibitions
2022
13th Annual Drawing Discourse Juried Exhibition, UNC Asheville, Asheville NC
The Harding Art Show, Nashville TN
2021
The Four Elements, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta GA
Multitudes, Free Market Art Gallery, Atlanta GA
Overexposed, The Visionary Projects, New York NY
2020
CreateHer, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta GA
33rd Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Juried Exhibition, Lake Charles LA
2019
FamilyHood ATL, Octane Westside, Atlanta GA
Yellow, ATHICA, Juried exhibition, Athens GA
Paint Like A Girl, Facet Gallery, Atlanta GA
Bloom, Facet Gallery, Atlanta GA
The New South IV, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta GA
Gathered IV, MOCA GA, Juried exhibition, Atlanta GA
New Year New Art, Facet Gallery, Atlanta GA
2018
Infinite, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta GA
A Sense of Place, Juried Exhibition, Gertrude Herbert Institute, Augusta GA
Ink Painting and Sumi-E, Juried Exhibition, Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver CO
Immersed In Abstraction, The Ellington-White Contemporary, Fayetteville NC
Emerging Artist Show, Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta GA
The New South III, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta GA
2016
Artemis, Mindzai Gallery, Atlanta GA
2014
Fashion Flora, Octane Coffee Gallery, Atlanta GA
2010
Left Lovingly, WARPhaus, Gainesville FL
2008
The Last Bear in Ireland, Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan Ireland
Tideswept and Taken Away, Reitz Union, Gainesville FL
Murals + Projects
Talat Market, Summerhill, Atlanta GA
Forward Warrior Murals, Cabbagetown, Atlanta GA
Marietta Square M2R Trailfest, Marietta GA
Neva Opet, Scottdale GA
The Sentimentalist, Atlanta GA
Whiskey Bird, Atlanta GA
Collections
Emory University, Atlanta GA
McNeese State University, Lake Charles GA
Fulton County Public Libraries, Atlanta GA
Hartsfield-Jackson Intl Airport, Atlanta GA
The Hotel at Avalon, Alpharetta GA
Rosewood Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas
Solis Suwanee Town Center, Suwanee GA
Turnberry Isles, Miami FL
Westin St Francis, San Francisco CA
Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali HI
Press
Where to shop, Atlanta Magazine, October 2018
Figure & Ground ATL, August 2018
Q&A, CommonCreativ, July 2018
First Look: Snackboxe Bistro, March 2018
VoyageATL, March 2018
[ images by Sawyer Baird Photo ]