No Water, No Life. No Blue, No Green.
Sylvia Earle
NINA CHRISTESEN
Nina Christesen - About
Hi, I'm Nina, an Australian abstract landscape artist based in Melbourne.
The focus of my work is to capture the power, beauty, and fragility of the landscape in the light, movement, gravity, forms, and waves created by the physics of nature.
I am inspired by aerial views of earth and my on-ground experiences remote camping and exploring alpine rivers, outback deserts and rugged coastlines.
I use acrylic paints, fluid and textured, to create original works on canvas. I also explore ideas further through digital art, which I adapt from my paintings and photos.
Whether I am using paint or pixels, I explore the interplay of control through process and mediums to guide the works, with intuition and serendipity to let the works reveal themselves.
How to consider art for you.
Art is personal and should reflect you – your interests, emotions, and style
So, I don’t expect you to like or buy my art, but I hope that in viewing it you might be reminded of the beauty and fragility of our planet. If that is the case, I have achieved my goal.
If you would like to see how the artwork would look in your space before you make any commitment to purchase, I can place it in a photo you send me.
Original paintings and Digital Art can be personalized for you in limited edition prints on canvas.
So, if there are any works that you like, or are close to what you like, please get in touch, and we can talk about how they could be adapted especially for you.
My art journey
Visual expression has been a big part of my life for over 15 years.
It started when I took a sabbatical from my corporate career, went to art school for a year, and sold my first painting to a city hotel, where it hangs today.
Then for over 10 years, in my spare time, I continued to paint, and work in digital media making social issue documentaries in Australia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and Europe.
It was during this time I had another pivotal experience.
In October 2006 I had returned to Australia after nearly 2 months of living in remote villages making documentaries in Papua New Guinea.
In these villages, customs have changed little for hundreds of years and revolve around ensuring the food gardens can sustain the community.
The morning, after my return, I burst out laughing when I saw the nature strip. It looked ridiculous.
I thought of how villagers would see that little patch of grass surrounded by concrete in front of my house, as a sign of madness.
But it was also scary; a powerful metaphor of how our ‘’civilized’’ way of living is trying to control the environment, not work with it.
The memory of that moment stays with me - it was my overview effect.
The Overview Effect is what happens to astronauts when they see the thin layer of the atmosphere surrounding the earth and become focused on protecting the planet.
Now I have time to bring together my three passions - painting, digital media, and my love of visiting remote regions in Australia.
The focus of my art is to reveal the beauty and fragility in our landscape; to remind us to understand and treasure it as the sustaining force in our survival.
My hope is you get that same sense of awe of the world around us, as I do in creating these works.
