Light Totem No. 15.1
Light Totem No. 15.1
Christina Watka
has spent her lifetime loving and wondering about the world and uses the simple delight of experiencing nature fully to create layers of meaning in space. All of her work is based heavily in process, using her body in a repeated creative gesture to make work that discusses light and joy and the interplay between the two.
In her most recent Light Totem series, she works with a natural material—mica— to create kinetic sculptures of reflected light and colored shadow. The work pushes the boundaries of simple sculpture because each Totem is kinetic; the expression is not limited to the wall on which it resides. Instead, the light found in any suspended space moves around the room creating a changed place and a purpose in the moment.
In her long-standing Murmuration series, Christina works with porcelain and forms pools of light with her hands. Each piece passes through the artist’s hands at least five times before finding a final home on a wall. Throughout any given day, light in the room moves across the work and casts subtle shadows behind the pieces.
No matter what, site-specific installation art changes the essence of a given space more than any other art form, and that is where Christina finds a home.