Bio
Christine Rabenold is a Chicago-based artist and a Professor of Art at North Central College. She served as the Coordinator of the Art Department from 2013 to 2017 and as the Chair of Art and Design from 2017 to 2022. Additionally, she was the Student Gallery Director from 2009 to 2019. Christine teaches a variety of courses, including ceramics, sculpture, three-dimensional design, advanced studies, and senior planning and exhibition capstone. She also co-led a December Abroad Seminar Course, Art and Memory in Italy, with Classics professor Michael de Brauw from 2014 to 2018.
Christine earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tyler School of Art/Temple University and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was born in Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
Artist Statement
My artwork comments on, if not examines aspects of memory, individuality, class, humor, and nature. Important questions about how we remember, what we choose to forget, how authentic these memories are, and why memory connects to one’s topographical environment are considerations in the work. In an era that increasingly relies on digital navigational maps, technology, and positional data, what does it mean to create a visual map of memory based on the shifting narratives of personal associations with locations? Furthermore, how does this process impact one’s psychological state and capacity for self-reflection?
A common practice is a connection of memory to objects and the use of the casting process. One interesting idea about the replication of objects through the casting process is the displacement of the real object and its simulacrum. While casting preserves the memory of the original form, it simultaneously challenges the object's authenticity and authorship. As a maker, I am captivated by the participatory dialogue that evolves when viewers engage with these memory-laden forms. Through the act of casting, can the banal become universal? Does this process elevate the everyday, or can the transformation function in reverse—rendering a unique object common?