Kirsten Annette Christensen (born 1943) is a Danish painter and

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...

. She has created large

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s depicting existential themes such as old age, sickness, pollution and death.

Biography

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 7 February 1943, Christensen first studied art at the Arts and Crafts School (1964–69) before attending the masonry and space art department of the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

(1969–75). After graduating, she became a teaching assistant. In that capacity, she participated in decorating the pedestrian tunnels in

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The subu ...

and

Hjørring Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (accor ...

. Using

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...

as her preferred material, she initially created imaginative compositions but soon began to include human figures and scenes. Her work often resembled a notice board with items depicting developments through time and space. Her principal accomplishment of the period was her 1978 exhibition in

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

called Min Mor og Mig (My Mother and Me) which consisted of 17 ceramic works with text describing the artist's relationship with her sick mother. They depicted the strong personal emotions she experienced as her mother's illness deteriorated in nursing homes until she died. The juxtaposition of reality, memory and dreams brought Christensen recognition as one of the most important female artists in Denmark. In 1982, Christensen decorated Hjortespring Library with 25 elements in stoneware and acrylics depicting the increasing threat to the survival of whales and other endangered animals, the largest item being a blueish black whale. Kristensen has also decorated the waiting room at

Aalborg Station Aalborg railway station ( da, Aalborg Station or ') is the main railway station serving the city of Aalborg, Denmark. It is located in central Aalborg, on the southwestern edge of the city center, with entrances from John F. Kennedys Plads and ac ...

(1988) with 18 brightly coloured acrylic plates and, in 1992, completed 30 polychrome glass panels for the ceiling at Køge Waterpark.

References

External links

Images of Kirsten Christensen's work from Ann Linnemann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Kirsten 1943 births Living people 20th-century Danish women artists 20th-century Danish artists Artists from Copenhagen Danish painters 20th-century Danish ceramists 21st-century Danish ceramists Danish women ceramists Danish women painters Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni