Christina Quarles is a Los Angeles-based artist, focusing on themes of multifaceted identities and the depth of the human condition. She has a fairly unique perspective, being both mixed black/white and queer. Her work stands against the preconceived expectations of what identity or humanity is supposed to mean. 

She was born in 1985 in Chicago. Her father was African American, and her mother was white. She grew up engaged in these two worlds. Since she had pale skin, there were contradictions between her reality and bias. These life experiences were an extreme influence on her work. 

You can grow up, acknowledging your background completely. And yet, the people around you will impose their feelings, assuming they know your history better. It’s a painful reality for many. Simultaneously, “whiteness”, or falling adjacent to whiteness, puts you at a natural advantage. You exist in a minority group but you benefit from the system that hurts your community. Quarles states:

“Fixed categories of identity can be used to marginalize but, paradoxically, can be used by the marginalized to gain visibility and political power. This paradox is the central focus of my practice.”

Even before these concepts of duality became a feature, Quarles had taken art extremely seriously. She was attending art classes from childhood throughout her teen years, even attending an art high school. Her exposure to figure drawing during that time was extremely influential, which is obvious when you look at her work. Many artists gravitate towards the human form because of its familiarity. 

The oversaturation of it can almost be damaging, causing us to fall into a mould. It’s a familiar thing for her, too. But she uses it kind of like a piece in a puzzle. It’s not the main attraction, it’s an intricately woven arrangement of bodies, filled with symbolism and personal experience. 

After receiving her MFA at Yale School of Art in 2016, she jumped into showcasing at exhibitions. Her work has touched a range of museums, including the MOMA, and nearly always in a way that pushes the bounds of the heteronormative, white-dominating art world we’ve come to familiarize ourselves with. 

The way that she combines multiple overlapping, converging figures is intriguing. It requires excessive practice. The shapes almost flow naturally together. It doesn’t feel like the bodies are fighting for dominance. Some elements are more prominent, and others aid in the flow, or “movement”. It feels natural, and it looks effortless.  

As of right now, in 2021, she is a part of the board of trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. She continues to create work, and will hopefully continue to for a long time. 

References:
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/christina-quarles-artist-interview-1234589606/
https://www.christinaquarles.com/About
https://www.pilarcorrias.com/artists/26-christina-quarles/biography/

Images Retrieved From:
https://www.christinaquarles.com/Paintings-1
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/christina-quarles-hauser-and-wirth-1234594323/