Christian Pierre is a representational artist and drawing instructor at LaVilla School of the Arts. For the second straight year, she has received a Community Foundation grant, this time to visually chronicle the history of Jacksonville.
WHAT MEDIUMS DOES
SHE WORK IN?
Oil and acrylic paintings, high-resolution photography, video, limited edition print-making, collage and textbook covers. In the past, she has also worked in cast-metal sculpture and as a jeweler’s assistant. She has been working as a professional artist for 13 years.
BREAKING THE MOLD
“I like working in lots of areas. It [the medium used] depends on my mood or the look or how fast I need it done. There’s this pressure to be homogenized, to be just one thing and I’m just not. I’m a million things. It doesn’t fit into one sentence. I think that’s more about marketing, getting a business edge.”
HOW WOULD SHE DEFINE HER STYLE?
“People are pretty conservative now and seem to respond to realism. My work is all realism, whether it’s enhanced with color or decorative. I don’t do the old master Rembrandt stuff, but you look at a picture and know what it is. I am not an abstract painter.”
WHAT SUBJECTS DOES
SHE LIKE MOST?
“There is a really broad range. It must relate to the patchwork of my life. I’m trying to figure out why I have so many projects going on and why I can’t define myself. I’m obsessed with making stuff. Part of my survival technique is to create work that is affirming. A lot of artists focus on darker themes, but that’s not necessarily the world I want to present to the young people I’m around.”
HOMETOWN GIRL
“Growing up here, I wasn’t happy to be from such a Southern town. I spent 12 years away from here thinking I would never come back. Ten years ago I did come back and it’s been great. Part of me always wants to go explore but I have so much going on here. I have a son at Douglas Anderson, a son at LaVilla and a son at Lee, so I need to make sure they have consistency.”
EDUCATION
Pierre has attended Colorado State University, the University of Florida and the School of Visual Arts in New York.
THE BIG LEAGUES
Pierre’s work has been exhibited domestically and abroad in group and solo shows. Following her dream of becoming a professional artist, Pierre moved to New York City to be more “plugged in” to the ever-changing art world. She once had wall space at several Lower East Side and East Village galleries. She also exhibited at the Tompkins Square Art Show. Pierre has held shows in Martha’s Vineyard, Boston and Block Island, Rhode Island. She has also presented works in Atlanta and South Beach, Miami.
PIP-PIP-CHEERIO
In 1988, she packed her paintbrushes and moved to England for six years with her then-husband. Her main international shows were at the Strangeways Galley in Covent Garden, the Cambridge Art Fair, the Harlow Art Cooperative and various Manchester coffee shops.
EXHIBITIONIST
Most of her current work can be seen locally at Heartworks, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art (now JMoMA), Steller’s Gallery, Objet D’Art, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Pedestrian Gallery, Art Bar, Biscotti’s, the House Gallery in Riverside and, most recently, J. Johnson Gallery at the beach. Two paintings and eight of her photographs hang in the Property Appraiser’s Office.
MAIN INFLUENCES
“Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated with art history, so I draw from all over. My photography is influenced by pop art, but my paintings are more post-impressionism to modernism. Colorists have had the most influence.”
WHAT INSPIRES HER
TO CREATE?
“I’m inspired by everyday life. Being here in Jacksonville has taught me to find joy in everyday things. I tell my students to look for inspiration in places you wouldn’t expect.”
A FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER
“I was always artistic as a child. In my family there are generations of art-related people — architects, designers, artists. My mother is a fashion designer and my children are all involved in various art pursuits.” Pierre has three sons ages 12-17, Troy, Jonah and Josh, and a new husband, Timothy Wood, who is big on theater. “My husband never makes a comment like, ‘Why are there 50 million paintings in the living room?’ My family is super-supportive.”
COMMUNITY SERVICE
In the past decade, Pierre has served an an art teacher for three elementary schools, as a mentor and community projects liaison for high school students and as the lead artist for the Cultural Council’s CANVAS project. She has also functioned as a mentor in an art apprenticeship and job training program. In the past few years, she has been the site director for a youth art training program and an art project for teenagers. Twice she has worked as the artist-in-residence for public schools. Pierre has participated in projects to benefit music in schools, homeless people and AIDS patients. For details, her website is www.christianpierre.com
— by Monica Tsai