Painting

Fukushima Tsunami Disaster series

As most people were throughout the world, I was deeply affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and ultimate nuclear disaster in Japan during March 2011. This series of paintings evolved and flowed from me as I considered the beautiful aspects of Japan’s culture and natural environment, the uncomfortable premonition I felt preceding the events themselves, and the horrifying reality of what ensued: the uncontrollable forces of nature; the unforeseen result of a nuclear disaster of such magnitude; and the palpable fear of the unknown, the feeling of “what now?” shared most intensely by the residents who were directly affected.

Living within “the ring of fire,” the Japanese are among the most aware and knowledgeable in the world of the devastating effects of earthquakes. The added catastrophic damage of the tsunami—especially considering that the normal cruising speed of a jetliner (800 kilometers per hour) is equal to the top speed of a tsunami over the open ocean—and the length of warning time residents had before the tsunami hit was only eight to ten minutes, exemplified the “flattening of time and space” during a natural disaster such as these people endured. These paintings evoke and contain the myriad feelings made manifest as I put paint to canvas, inducing a very intense abstract duality between the forces of nature and man.

Mankind continues to delude itself with the idea that we can control nature and that we have or can find any and all answers. My work here is a meditation on what Buddhists refer to as “the essential nature of mind.” By contemplating deeply on the impermanence of life, and realizing that we all in our own way search for an understanding of life and death, this essential nature of mind is itself “the background to the whole of life and death, like the sky, which folds the whole universe in its embrace.”*

Mixed Media

Archived Work

Contact Information

tel: 215-790-9914
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Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Statement

My paintings are subconsciously motivated images provoking a beginning. “If you know exactly what your going to do, what is the point of doing it?” is a quote from Picasso, which I very much agree with. My imagery and color are a result of experimenting with various transfer methods, collage and paint application. This process inspires underlying themes, which are at times autobiographical, political, environmental, or mystical. Another source of inspiration comes from painting the landscape, especially when I travel. Painting the landscape keeps my eye in tune with the natural elements, and in turn is revisited later as a resource for work in the studio.

Education

1991 – 1992
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
BFA

1986
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1982 – 1984
Cleveland Institute of Art, Lacoste, France

1975 – 1979
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Honors and Awards

2006
Best of Mixed Media PA Artist, Kennedy Publications

2005
Best of Pennsylvania Artists

1990
Bookbinder’s Award

1978
American Society of Interior Design Scholarship Prize

Collections

Wolfe Block Schorr, & Solis Cohen, Philadelphia, PA
Graphic Packaging Corp., Wayne, PA
Nano Systems, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Exhibitions

2009
InLiquid’s 10th Anniversary Show, Gallery 543 at URBN, Philadelphia, PA

Absolutely Abstract 2009, Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

Apotsos Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2008
Balance Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

A Show of Five, George Apotsos Studio, Philadelphia, PA

Rx Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

2007
A Show of Five, George Apotsos Studio, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Django, Philadelphia, PA

The 148th Annual Exhibition, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

2005
Esca, New Hope, PA

2003
Pangea, New York, NY

2001
Traces of Provence, Alliance Francaise, New York, NY

2000
Lindenberg Gallery, New York, NY

1996
American Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Mare Libertum Gallery, New York, NY

Zone 1, Philadelphia, PA

1994
La Spaghetteria, New York, NY

1992
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Protean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1990
Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Art at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

South Street Renaissance Exhibit, Philadelphia, PA

One-Man Show, Caribou Café, Philadelphia, PA

1988
Chiaroscuro, Chicago, IL

Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1986
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA

1985
Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1984
20th Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1983
Village des Beaux Arts, Lacosta, France

1982
Rittenhouse Fine Arts Annual, Philadelphia, PA

1979
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1978
The Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Rittenhouse Fine Arts Annual, Philadelphia, PA

Other

1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008
Open Studio

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Christina Penrose