Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Christina Carbone (aka Xtina) is an auteur of the creative underworld. Classically trained in fine art since grade school, she attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland and received her BFA in 2005. In a time where painting majors were dwindling and illustration and graphic design had more students than ever before, Xtina managed to find a balance between technology, fine art, and her own bizarre inspirations. Realizing her comfort level lied with brushes on canvas, Xtina broke free of traditional painting in favor of multi-dimensional performance art, utilizing her self-taught skills in costume construction and choreography along with classes in sound design and video editing to create hybrid performance art/fashion events culminating in multi-media installations. Post-graduation, after an extended break from art and some intense life lessons, Xtina nurtured a renewed interest in painting that initially began as a form of personal therapy and emotional expression. As part of the methods she employed to change her life she began attending Buddhist meditation classes by a friends recommendation. It was the right place at the right time, for many reasons (including the shift in her artwork, a newfound sense of strength and independence fueled by creativity and a developing interest in spirituality.)
She became entranced with the iconic imagery of Tibetan Buddhist art, and began incorporating elements of the same precision, symmetry, and symbolism in her sketches, drawings and paintings. Intrigued by mathematics, quantum physics, nature, biology and sacred geometry and their relationship to spirituality and human consciousness, Xtina’s body of work had taken on a complexity and intensity that would fuel her creativity for the next half a decade on. Xtina’s paintings display the visual journey of a spiritual awakening translated into oils and acrylics, a methodical exploration into the collective unconscious and the sacred balance of the universe.
After relocating to Philly in 2007, she found her niche within the city’s extraordinary burner community, and began cultivating her skills performing with fire, object manipulation, bellydance and burlesque. Since then, Xtina has earned her place both behind the scenes and on the stage, by organizing and performing in variety showcases including Scorch Fire Show and The Russian Roulette Variety Show (2011-2013), and has performed at a number of festivals, parties, private events and black-tie galas in Philly and beyond. Xtina joined some of the best fire performers on the east coast in 2012 with Aish Tamid, Philadelphia’s fire conclave, at Burning Man in Black Rock City. She performs regularly with bellydance/fire fusion troupe Lux Arati and continues to hand-make the majority of her costumes and accessories, and is the resident graphic designer for her performance outlets — allowing her to combine her love of performing with her creative visions for all aspects of the stage, audience and performer.
To date, she has exhibited her paintings in galleries, cafes, restaurants and bars in Philadelphia, New York City and Baltimore, commissioned for a number of original paintings featuring her vivid visual explorations into sacred geometry, and has painted nearly a dozen murals in private residences. Currently she is negotiating a large-scale public outdoor mural in Philly, working on several commissioned paintings for clients and rehearsing and planning for The Russian Roulette Variety Show for the 2013 summer festival season.
“The action of art-making becomes a harmony of problem solving equations and therapeutic expression, an attempt to explain, express, and assimilate the interconnectedness beyond man and nature – the vibration of energy that is in everything.”
“My paintings are interpretations of fascinations, obsessions, and respect for the natural world and the ethereal realm, and their complex relationship with humankind. I place them somewhere in between realism and fantasy; empathetic telepathy, spiritual awareness, and aesthetic beauty; moments of consciousness connecting the elements of nature, man, and god.” (excerpts from Xtina’s Artist’s Statement, November 2011)
Connect with Christina on Facebook Art by Xtina
Lux Arati — www.luxarati.com
Russian Roulette Variety Show – facebook.com/RussanRouletteVarietyShow
Copyright: Use of Images – Art by Christina cannot be copied or used without permission from the artist.
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