Cristi Rinklin
Artist Statement

In our current data-driven and media saturated society, the subconscious isinformed by imagery that
is virtual and synthetic rather than natural, and as a result of this ubiquitous technological presence
the human imagination has adapted to follow suit. A fantastical manifestation of this altered imagined
state is what I aim to present in my work. I seek to create a psychological space that is constructed and
manipulated through opposing forces and visual impossibilities through the use of high gloss vs. blurry
matte surfaces, eye-popping color, and hypnotic optical effects.  I present to the viewer a way in which
the pictorial language of painting, altered by technology, becomes a lens through which we translate our
contemporary understanding of space.  The result is a hybrid of imagery that combines dreamy, techno
-colored atmospheres with crisp, graphic organic forms, and luscious billowing substances that are vaguely
familiar yet at the same time- supernatural. 

Although the physical making of my work entails traditional painting methods, the means to obtain my
imagery acknowledges as well as involves digital processes.  Images in my work are derived from
Baroque painting and architecture, cellular biology, natural history illustration, cosmological imagery, and
decorative patterns, which are collected, scanned and manipulated digitally.  Doing this enables me to
appropriate pre-existing images and mutate them beyond their original state in a way that becomes similar
to the act of creating preparatory sketches and drawings for a painting. References to technologically
altered imagery have been present in my work for several years, and have recently paved the way to new
bodies of work that directly incorporate digital media into large scale installations of transparent
Duraclear prints and wall painting to create a contemporary impression of Baroque space. The dense
theatricality of the Baroque period is fascinating to me as it ironically offers an appropriate visual
language with which to define the multi-media, super-saturated experience of our contemporary existence. 
It is my desire to create paintings and installations that seduce the viewer into believing that an impossible
space such that is presented within them can possibly exist.