CHRISTINA SKAGGS
The blended languages and earliest pictographs of all ancient cultures and roofs that rust inspire Skaggs’ transcultural paintings. Her current wave of inspiration comes from the most primitive masters of Oceanic art and is reflected in her uniquely personal artistic representations of petroglyphs, tapas, Polynesian tattoos, Maori carvings, voyaging canoes, mythical animals and sacred botanicals. It is this interplay of extremes, the juxtaposition of the primitive and the ultra modern, that infuse Skaggs’ art. The paintings are as much about shape and texture, the traditional preoccupation of sculpture, as they are about color. The textures are crowned with precious metals that suggest the patina of age and reflect Skaggs’ intimacy with metals from her years in jewelry design.
A life long artist, Skaggs’ moved to Hawaii in 1990 and designed jewelry for island galleries, basking in the harmony induced by imposing order, but painting called her back. “These ancient images are embedded in our DNA and this is why we see them as evocative and beautiful” Skaggs says. “They are a silent prayer to the interconnectedness of all things. I have carried all of this in many different suitcases for many years and I am grateful for this moment to unpack it all, in this one place and time.”

Often asked how she creates her multi-layered works of art, Skaggs said: “I use a renegade process of my own creation mixing glazes that are composed of oils, acrylics and metallic leafs. “I often use beer or even champagne in my glazes as the bubbles give it a nice lift. I create a beloved neutral order reminiscent of typography and yet I strive for a dimension of mystery as well.”

The painter’s journey gathered momentum, when, following years of window design on Rodeo Drive and art direction for film, television and special events, Skaggs had the opportunity to study privately with master painter Mr.Gilbert Batty. Batty first arrived in the United States in the 1940’s at the invitation of Sir Alfred Hitchcock to apply his decorative painting skills to the legendary director’s Beverly Hills mansion. Battys’ study of painting began as a child in the great buildings of turn-of-the-century London helping his father and grandfather gild and paint along side the finest craftsmen of their day.
Batty was 92 when Christina began her two-year apprenticeship in centuries-old painting techniques, and she was his last student. Christina then studied with Battys’ protégé, master painter Carol Free, who specialized in painting furniture inspired by antique European and Asian pieces for showrooms in the Pacific Design Center and surrounding area. These years of work, study and artistic practice combined with these aged yet timeless techniques yielded a multi-dimensional sense of color, texture and shape. .