Cristina maingrette - Curated by Yvena Despagne
Cristina is a young Haitian artist living in Miami. Since she was a kid she has always been creating: using different media, sewing, drawing, painting. She developed a love for pen in ink when, in school, she would draw on her notebooks during class or her free time. After school she moved to New Jersey to finish her degree in accounting. While still working on her art, she started to develop her techniques. Each piece in this series is made with black ink on paper. Simple, easy and accessible. Cristina believes in Art as a medium of expression or as she likes to say, a “diary”. And like a diary she opens her sketchbook and pours her heart out.
How has art helped you ?
Art has helped me see my surroundings differently. It has taught me to see beauty in everything that I do and see. With that, I started to pay attention to things that others might ignore or find irrelevant. Art has also been therapy for me. From a young age, I used art to express myself, and it could be through my fashion or my drawings. It has helped me better understand how I feel in the moment.
Why do you gravitate towards creating portraits ?
It is going to sound corny, but portraits chose me. I love landscape art. I'm fascinated by it, but I’m never satisfied with the final results. That is why I always go back to doing portraits; it comes easily to me, and I feel more comfortable. Overall I love how it comes out! I think I started creating more regularly once I realized that portraits were what I do best. I think we, humans, are art, and it's fun to study and explore the different features and facial expressions that come with drawing portraits. I also know not to limit myself when it comes to art, so who knows what i’ll be doing next.
Do you premeditate your subjects? Or is it free-flowing?
I would say it is free-flowing. I draw what catches my eyes and start drawing right away. If I think about it too much, I'll probably be hesitant about doing it or not do it at all. My hand has a mind of its own, so I let it do its thing!
ON ATIZAY SHOP
Ink on Paper
No Frame