biography
Christina Thwaites (b. 1980, Sheffield, England) is a contemporary painter, currently based in Trieste, Italy. She studied History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and at the École du Louvre, Paris; and later attended LaPortaBlu Art School, Rome, Italy. Predominantly working in oil and ink on canvas, her practice centers on expressive figuration and is shaped by recurring themes of identity, place and human connection. Her paintings explore moments of vulnerability and introspection, often depicting children and family groups. Characterized by gestural brushwork, use of pattern and a restrained chromatic palette, her portraits evoke a sense of both timeless universality and human fragility.
Represented in numerous private collections, Thwaites has shown work internationally including at Canberra Contemporary Art Space (Canberra, Australia); the Lord Hall Gallery, (University of Maine, USA); the Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome, Italy); The MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art Rome, Italy); Von Buren Gallery (Rome, Italy); Carver Hill Gallery (Camden, USA); and Anna Pappas Gallery (Melbourne, Australia). She has participated in several international artist residency programs, among them the PlantageDok Artist Residency (Amsterdam, Netherlands); the Al-Mahatta Artist Residency (Ramallah, Palestine); and 33Officina Creativa (Toffia, Italy). During her time in Canberra, Australia, she was offered studio space with the Australian National Capital Artists.
Notable bodies of work include ‘Primary Colours’, a series created following workshops given at the Al-Farah refugee camp, depicting Palestinian children holding their own portraits. While living in Canberra, Thwaites produced the ‘Tracing Back’ paintings, which draw on film stills and archival photographs of Aboriginal Australians. The ‘Jalan Jalan’ series of portraits were made during a 5 month stay in Walasiho, a remote village in SE Sulawesi, Indonsia. The ‘Living in a Bubble’ work is largely autobiographical in nature and was made during Covid, they are complex yet playful interactive magnetic paintings, which invite the viewer to engage and connect directly with the work, by repositioning magnetic elements, thereby altering the composition and narrative.
selected solo exhibitions:
2024 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA
2022 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA
2022 Gallery B, Castine. USA
2021 Lord Hall Gallery, University of Maine, Orono. USA
2021 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA
2021 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA
2020 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA
2020 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA
2019 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA
2019 Maine Art Hill, Kennebunk, Maine. USA
2015 Penny Contemporary, Tasmania, Australia.
2014 Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2014 G2Gallery, Jesi, Italy. (Joint show with artist Peter Blake).
2014 Michael Reid Gallery, Murrurundi, New South Wales, Australia.
2014 Altenburg Gallery, Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia.
2014 RvB Arts, Rome. Italy.
2013 The Art List, London, UK.
2013 RvB Arts, Rome, Italy.
2012 Galleria Cellamare 56, Naples, Italy.
2012 La Porta Blu Gallery, Rome, Italy.
2011 Galleria Cortese & Lisanti, Rome, Italy.
2010 Dokhuis Galerie, Amsterdam, Holland.
2010 Studio 7, Rieti, Italy.
selected group exhibitions:
2024 Von Buren Contemporary, Rome. Italy.
2023 Gallery B, Castine. Maine. USA
2022 Artemis Gallery, Northeast Harbor, Maine. USA
2021 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA
2020 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA
2019 Maine Farmland Trust, Belfast, Maine. USA
2018 Penny Contemporary, Tasmania, Australia.
2015 G2Gallery, Jesi, Italy.
2014 CCAS (Canberra Contemporary Art Space), Canberra, ACT, Australia.
2014 Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
2014 Nishi Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
2013 Temple University Gallery, Rome, Italy.
2013 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
2013 RvB arts, Rome, Italy.
2013 Peter Klashorst Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland.
2012 MACRO (Museum of Contemporary in Art), Rome, Italy.
2012 Palazzo delle Esposizioni, (Exhibition Palace), Rome, Italy.
2012 Peter Klashorst Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland.
2012 Teatro Sala Umberto, (Umberto Theatre), Rome, Italy.
2012 Peter Klashorst Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland.
2012 Hybrida ArtGallery, Rome, Italy.
2012 Appels Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland.
2012 Ongekend Art Auction, Rotterdam, Holland.
2011 Al-Far’a, Palestine.
2011 Galerie Serieuze Zaken, Amsterdam, Holland.