WOMEN WHO CREATE: CHRISTIANE SPANGSBERG DRAWS TO “MINIMIZE THE COMPLEXITY OF HUMANKIND”

„I feel everything and nothing. I can’t pick a feeling. I don’t even know where to start,“ explains visual-artist, Christiane Spangsberg. This duple approach is what underpins her work, as she oscillates between feelings of
expression and pressure. The Copenhagen-based artist continues: „I draw and paint as a personal need to explore and understand the world I live in, the people I surround myself with, and my own mind.“

In 2010, Spangsberg was influenced by the way Pablo Picasso portrayed animals, and this reference point can be found today in the artist’s signature fine-line paintings of naked men and women. Over the last seven years, Spangsberg has brought her work to galleries in Sydney and New York, all the while cultivating an impressive Instagram follower count. However for Spangsberg, creative satisfaction comes from within, not her 85k+ social base. „I’m hard on myself. I always believe I can do better. My goal is to satisfy myself, to find beauty in the work I create, so that I want to hang them on my walls.“

However, the creative process comes with challenges: „Right before I set out to work, my emotions, thoughts, and feelings are in overdrive. And, it’s not something I’m really conscious of.” When we ask her how she finds balance, Spangsberg responds with simplicity: “When I draw, I get it out and I feel I can breathe again. It is this natural cycle that sets Spangsberg’s work apart, and encourages her to work for craft not commission: „I’m not a typical artist. I’ve tried to have a studio, but it doesn’t work. I only want to work when I’m home in my own familiar and safe environment. I’m a black sheep. I did not go to art school. I’m different. I am self-taught. Until now I have done everything myself and I have achieved this through practice.“ However, I have never drawn or painted with the intention of being an artist. It is clear, that her focus extends beyond a piece of paper or white canvas, in her own words Spangsberg creates „to minimize the complexity of humankind.”

Taken from Material Magazine No 33 – get your issue here.