CHRISTY HOPKINS

Christy Hopkin’s artistic process is truly unique, as she creates her paintings gesturally in time with music and dance. The result is a dynamic explosion of energy and movement, captured with broad brushstrokes and vibrant colors on the canvas. The layers of paint build up over time, creating endless textures and overlapping patterns that lend depth and complexity to the artwork. Each new layer transforms the work and takes it in a new direction, making the layer-making process critical to her art.

ARTIST STATEMENT

When someone asks me, “what inspires you” my brain usually struggles to answer.  It’s not a cloud or a tree. It’s not a picture in a book, or a song I’ve heard.  I draw 100% inspiration from the work itself, specifically the process. I often walk into my studio sometimes not knowing what I’m going to accomplish, but when I just start I can’t stop from happening. 

I paint intuitively, I almost never have a roadmap of going into a piece.  The painting becomes alive in my sheer process and layer making. Then in finding the story and building it out.  It’s crucial for me to recognize that exact moment where I know intuitively which way to go, to release control and let the painting guide me. That is when the piece and I become one. 

Raised in southern California, I discovered my love for painting in my early twenties while on a road trip from Connecticut to Boston.  Pure boredom in the car drove me to start doodling on a back of a book jacket.   I doodled every free chance I had on that trip!  Upon returning from that vacation, I was given a paint set and the creativity took off. 

I have boundless feelings to express, and painting is my visual language. I have a daily regime with my studio.  It’s the place where I free my head, put stress aside and allow the painting to connect with my emotions and capture the artistic voice I’m screaming to get out. 

I live to create.