CHRISTINA THWAITES (English b.1980- )Painter I am context dependent and having moved home and country a lot, my practice has been a means of connecting myself to location and people.I often work with historic photographs, making fast and spontaneous drawings before painting. Painting is like a conversation – there is a back and forth with it, a flow, and I don’t know what will be said until it happens. What is left to interpretation, what is not said explicitly, is the most important part of the painting.I am process led and very physical, putting my whole body into the work - constantly challenging the materials to test what they can and cannot do.A painting is ‘finished’ when there is a balance between poetry, tension and ambiguity – both in terms of subject matter and stylistic balance. Biography CHRISTINA THWAITES grew up in Derbyshire, in rural England. She studied History of Art and French literature at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. After her MA, she attended LaPortaBlu Art school in Rome to focus on painting. Thwaites has run art workshops and community projects and has exhibited and lived all over the world. In Italy she ran an international art residency program near Rome. In Palestine she ran workshops in a refugee camp. She lived in a communal artist house in Amsterdam and in a remote village in Indonesia. In Canberra (Australia) she worked with ANCA (Australian National Capital Artists) whilst continuing to exhibit in Europe (with solo shows in London and Rome and a joint show with British Pop artist Peter Blake.) Thwaites has shown work in prestigious establishments including CCASS in Australia (Canberra Contemporary Art Space), Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and the MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome). She currently exhibits with galleries in Italy and the US and works from her home in Trieste, Italy where she lives with her husband and two children. selected solo exhibitions:2021 Lord Hall Gallery, University of Maine, Orono. USA2021 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA2021 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA2020 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA2020 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA2019 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USAebunk, Maine. USA2015 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:2021-2024 Carver Hill Gallery, Camden, Maine. USA2020 Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Maine. USA2019 Maine Farmland Trust, Belfast, Maine. USA2018 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.