Christina Major was born in Concord, New Hampshire in 1982. She has lived all over the world including Hawaii, France, New York, Florida and currently works out of North Carolina. Major earned her MFA from Florida Atlantic University and has exhibited throughout South Florida and Sweden. Her work is collected both nationally and internationally.
Major is a portrait painter interested in the ways the identity of both artist and subject can coexist in a painting. Major's graduate thesis exhibition, "Components of Self," evolved from her desire to combine large-scale portrait painting with writing. Her current creative research focuses on the traditional form of the portrait as a powerful form of representing an individual and how meaning can be expanded through scale, brushstroke, color, texture, composition and the many variables that portraiture deals with.
Major expands the traditional portrait painting by cataloguing her memories and thoughts along with the thoughts of the subject¬—at times recording quotes from the person depicted—by painting under, into and over the subject in her handwriting. Major’s “hand” is visible both in the brushstroke and in the cursive writing, preserving her identity in a “readable” way both literally and through graphology, or handwriting analysis.
The paintings are done primarily in oil on canvas grounds prepared with gesso and stretched. They are generally of monumental size ranging from 48” to 96” in each dimension. Major’s portraits feel overwhelming and have a “larger-than-life” presence that cannot be ignored. The large scale also creates a different “reading” of the painting depending on the viewing distance. Up close, areas may be read abstractly due to the emphasis on defined brush strokes, dabs of energetic color, and texture that is formed by the cursive text. From far away, the image coalesces from the fragmented strokes and layers of writing, drawing focus to the likeness of the subject painted.
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Typographical Abstraction and Literary Portraiture, West Palm Beach, FL
2020 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2019 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Contemporary Focus, Palm Beach County Convention Center, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2018 Art Wynwood, Miami, FL
2016 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2015 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2014 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
“Above the Couch”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
“Immersed”, Gallery 2014, Hollywood, FL
2012 “Propria”, Solo Exhibition, Gallery & More, Goteborg, Sweden
2011 “Natural Interactions”, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
“Collaboration”, Ursula’s Fine Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Christina Major, For Art Sake, Hollywood, FL
“Inward & Outward”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2010 Christina Major, For art Sake, Hollywood, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
“Mediums Exhibit”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“20 x 20”, Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“Components of Self”, Schmidt Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2009 “The Bridging Principle”, The Armory, West Palm Beach, FL
2008 “New Talent”, Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
2007 “Visualizing Race”, University Galleries, Boca Raton, FL
2006 “No Transfat”, The Ritter Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
EDUCATION
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Masters in Fine Art, May 2010
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Bachelors in Fine Art, May 2007
Palm Beach State College – Lake Worth, Fl
Associate Degree in
Graphic Design, May 2003