HARTFORD, CONN.- Inspired by classical tapestries depicting historical and mythological subjects, Christina Forrer’s raucous and vividly colored weavings and drawings animate fantastical, psychologically-charged scenes exploring the conflict that Forrer believes is at the core of all relationships, both among human beings and between humans and nature. A native of Zurich, Forrer’s works feature spirited creatures and a simplified style rooted in Swiss folklore and regional folk art while relating to the anxieties and nightmares of contemporary life. On view through January 2, 2022, Christina Forrer / MATRIX 187, presents her animated compositions alongside a selection of complementary works from the Wadsworth’s collection carefully curated by the artist.

“When Christina learned that the Wadsworth had a collection of costume & textiles, she immediately asked if she might explore the collection to create a context around her own work,” notes Patricia Hickson, the Wadsworth’s Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art. “Her surprising discoveries provide a fascinating history of imaginative narratives in art and illustrate a long tradition of experimentation in the textile medium.”

“The Wadsworth’s collection is so expansive and multifaceted that it has been a beautiful cross disciplinary voyage in time and place, and I think the joy for me was to find the connecting thread between the works from the collection in relation to my own practice,” explains Christina Forrer. “It has been really satisfying taking advantage of the vast knowledge of the staff at the museum helping me understand how the tune of ‘Rock-a-bye Baby’ can carry an American cradle quilt from the 19th century to an Italian painting from the 16th century depicting the fall of Phaethon and to say it through Jess’s The Fall of Icarus, 1970 who said it through Rilke: ‘All the worlds in the universe rush into the invisible as into their next deeper reality.’ ”




Christina Forrer / MATRIX 187 features a newly made group of weavings and finished drawings as well as a painted ceramic vase. At the center of the exhibition is Sepulcher, a new monumental weaving, nearly eight by fourteen feet in size. The composition presents the interconnectedness of all things great and small experienced through the five senses and linked through the natural elements of earth, air, fire, and water.

Alongside Forrer’s narrative weavings, an assortment of objects—largely textile-based works—from the museum’s collection are being presented in dialogue with her work. The artist designed the installation of artworks which range from charming to ghoulish. The selections include folk, craft, and textile works, including the Wadsworth’s Rose of Sharon cradle quilt, a pair of brooches made of taxidermy hummingbirds, and several hooked mats from Grenfell Labrador Industries. Researched and selected by Forrer, the items create a lively dialogue about curious narrative content and the variety found within the textile medium. Beadwork, hooking, crewel work, weaving, and quilting are among Forrer’s collection choices. Recurrent themes include man’s continual struggle to control nature, obsessive human behavior approaching religious fervor, and the ever-present reminder of the inevitability of death.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Christina Forrer's work to the Wadsworth. Her subversive blend of traditional techniques and transgressive subject matter make for a challenging critique of society and human nature in the twenty-first century,” said Matthew Hargraves, Interim Robert H. Schutz Jr. Chief Curator at the Wadsworth. “By exploring objects in the Wadsworth’s collection, Forrer has brought her own work and historic paintings, prints, and textiles into a stimulating and creative dialogue.”

Born in Zürich in 1978, Forrer lives and works in Los Angeles. Selected solo exhibitions include Feet of the Devil, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia (2019); Christina Forrer, Luhring Augustine, New York (2019); Grappling Hold, Swiss Institute, New York (2017); Cat Lady, The Finley, Los Angeles (2016) and Christina Forrer, Grice Bench, Los Angeles (2014). Group exhibitions include Made in LA 2020, Hammer Museum and Huntington Museum, Los Angeles (2020); Midtown, Lever House, New York (2017); Unorthodox, The Jewish Museum, New York (2015); Some Masks, Grice Bench, Los Angeles (2015); and Can’t Reach Me There, Midway Contemporary, Minneapolis (2015). She is the recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant (2014).