Christian Breed
Artist Statement
I use my painting to pry open the dynamics between textiles and their environments. I visualize the tension between the communities that the textiles represent and the spaces that surround them; the juxtaposition and liminal spaces between where they harmonize and where they repel.
As an artist currently based in the Bronx, my work deals with the vibrantly multicultural aspect of urban centers. My experience working in Italy for ten years instilled a focus on the interactions between layers of history and how they inform the present. The multicultural and the historical influences merge within my work in the form of paintings inspired by textiles which reference vestiges of history and of cultural hybridity.
Textile has long been considered decorative within the context of western painting and, as a result, has often been sidelined within the Western canon. What has been considered decorative, I place centrally and within the signifier of the canvas; elevating it and making it a worthy subject of a painting. I bring textile to the center of my work, which also allows me to open my painting towards (and to celebrate) a wide range of cultures. This ties directly into my experience living and working in the Bronx, where I taught English for many years. In teaching English, I was able to receive an education in textiles used by the students I taught from West Africa, South Asia, and Eastern Europe. My experiences inspire me to center textiles as a visual manifestation of identity within an urban environment.