Christian Holstad

Christian Holstad was born in Anaheim, California in 1972 and lives and works between New York City and Romagna, Italy.

United by attitude rather than medium or method, Christian Holstad’s work probes received ideas about class, culture, sexuality and society. A keen eye on concepts of high and low informs a body of work that, encompassing sculpture, installation, performance, photography, ceramics, collage and textiles, is concerned with the construction and manifestation of social and intimate spaces. Holstad’s practice has explored domestic and subcultural sites, often exploring and calling into question preconceived notions of identity and desire.

Holstad has often examined the conceptual and aesthetic resonance of the vessel as part of a wider enquiry into cycles of consumption and their effects on the world. Many of his recent ceramic works are the result of an extended period living and working in Faenza, Italy, which is home to the historical manufacture of majolica ware known as faience. Working closely with Italian ceramicists, Holstad has developed new ways of working with clay that expand on the techniques – variously American, English and Japanese – to which he was already accustomed. In his ongoing series of Eraserhead drawings the artist selectively erases sections of images cut from newspapers and magazines, transforming their meanings in ways that hint at hidden or subtextual layers beneath the surface.