"My paintings seek not simply to observe, but to explore our relationship with the land as well as its flora and fauna, to connect my vulnerability and fragility with the created world’s. They emerge from a deep love for and care of the land. Focusing especially on the Blue Ridge Mountain area of central Virginia and the coast of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, I use loose and suggestive strokes that imply an immediacy of experience within which I want the viewer to linger.  Painting for me is a process of paying attention, of looking at the layers of meaning we ascribe to our placed-ness and hopefully evoking moments of re-humanizing connections."


​Christen Yates renders ​the emotional experience of the landscape through the use of ​layered oil ​paints creating ​compositions that border representation and abstraction. Incorporating pigments that are non-toxic and occasionally, locally foraged, lends a congruence to honoring the land she celebrates. Raised ​on the North Shore of Boston, ​C​hristen attended the University of ​Virginia ​and later completed graduate studies in theology, art & sustainable development in Vancouver, BC. Since moving back to Virginia in 2014, she has exhibited locally and in various venues from Cape Ann, MA to the San Francisco Bay area. She's held artist residencies on Vancouver Island and in the highlands of Texas. Her work has been acquired by the University of Virginia and is held in numerous private collections. C​hristen ​works ​out of her home studio on a small farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains.

Yates’s gentle, contemplative work shows an inner peace and affinity for the timelessness of the landscape. Yates captures her surrounding mountains and fields, and occasionally animals, with economy and assurance. Anyone who needs to be reminded that we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world can find it in these paintings. - Karen Blair, Virginia Living Magazine, Dec. 2024

ARTIST CV

Christen Borgman Yates 
born Boston, MA 1977

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2024 Light as Air. With small prints by Kendall Cox. The Baldwin Center @ Bundoran Farm. North Garden, VA.

  • 2022 a fragile paradise. Rooted, Walnut Creek, CA.

  • 2019 the liturgical year series. Covenant Upper School, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2018 the delight is the surprise. Art on the Trax. Crozet, VA.

  • 2017 Land & Sea. Preston Cutler Gallery. South Hamilton, MA. 

  • 2016 Go with your love to the fields. McIntire School of Commerce. University of Virginia. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2016 Go with your love to the fields. Blenheim Vineyards. Charlottesville, VA. 

  • 2016 Agrarian Icons & Works on Paper. Darden Business School. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2015 Agrarian Icons. New City Arts Initiative & NPR's WVTF Gallery, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2014-2015 Agrarian Icons. Linden Vineyards, Linden, VA.

  • 2014 Agrarian Icons: Works in Progress. Grove City Artworks, Grove City, PA. 

  • 2013 Project Eve, Guest Artist. Grove City College, Grove City, PA. 

  • 2012 Ordinary Icons. Deer Creek Winery, Grove City, PA. 

  • 2010 Holy the Firm. Preston Cutler Gallery, South Hamilton, MA. 

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2024. Of the Earth. Two-person show with wood sculptor Jacqui Stewart. Welcome Gallery, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2022 Nature, Us & the Future. Invitational show of 6 female artists. RevArt at the Vault Gallery, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2021-22 Two-person show with Frank Phillips. Brick Cellar Gallery - Dairy Market. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2021 Yes! Online juried group show. CIVA.

  • 2021 The Little Museum of Art, Invitational Group show. Fralin Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2021 Beyond Words. Invitational Show at Park Gables Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA.

  • 2019 Love Breathes in Two Countries. Two-person show with Brittany Fan. NPR’s WVTF Gallery, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2019 Anne Irwin Emerging Artist Exhibit. Juried group show. Anne Irwin Gallery. Atlanta, GA.

  • 2019 Grassroots Emerging Artist Exhibit. Juried group show. Rockport Art Association. Rockport, MA.

  • 2019 Celebrating Women: No other world. Group exhibit of selected local artists. UVa Darden School of Business. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2019 Norfolk Academy Art Gallery. Juried group show. Norfolk, VA.

  • 2018-24 Teeny Tiny Trifecta. Juried small works show. Second Street Gallery. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2018-9, ‘22 Girls' Night Out. Invitational art auction to benefit The Women's Initiative. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2017 Land & Flight. Two-person show with Kendall Cox. The Garage. Charlottesville, VA. 

  • 2017 Capital Artist Collective Launch Party & Pop up Show. Washington, D.C.

  • 2016 Les Yeux du Monde Holiday show & sale. Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2016 Oakton Foundation National Visual Arts Show & Competition, Spring. Honorable Mention. 

  • 2015  14th Annual Small Wonders Juried Show. Maryland Federation of Art Circle Gallery. Annapolis, MD.

  • 2014-22  Annual New City Arts Initiative Art Auction. Old Metropolitan Hall, Charlottesville, VA.

  • 2014  Hope Heals Juried Show. Los Angeles, CA 

  • 2014  International Arts Movement Small Works Art Show. New York City, NY. 

  • 2013  Grove City College Invitational Area Artists Exhibit. Grove City, PA.

  • 2013  NAP Invitational Salon of Small Works. New Arts Program. Kutztown, PA. 

  • 2013  31st Annual Juried Women Artists Show. YWCA of Youngstown. Youngstown, OH. 

  • 2011  the little gallery under the stairs - TASTE juried show {pears iii, best in show.} Lynn, MA. 

  • 2004-6  Painted Planet Gallery. Memphis, TN.

  • 2002  Lookout Gallery student group show. Vancouver, BC. 

Selected Press, Publications & Presentations

Education

  • 2020-24 Workshops with artists Jenny Nelson, Claudia Rilling and Heather Bird Harris.

  • 2004  MTS Applied Theology & the Arts | Regent College | Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Studied with artist Chris Anderson

  • 2004  Certificate in Sustainable Community Development | Simon Fraser University | Vancouver, BC, Canada

  • 2002-3  Graduate studies in painting at Emily Carr University of Art & Design | Vancouver, BC, Canada

  • 1999  BA Political & Social Thought University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA

Collections

  • The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

  • Eastern University, Philadelphia, PA

  • Lauren Liess, designer, Great Falls, VA.

  • Neada Onufrychuk, House on Willow Hill, Vienna, VA.

  • Geobarns, LLC. White River Junction, VT

  • Michael Prince, photographer, Magnolia, MA

  • Farr & Co Design, Ipswich, MA

  • L’Abri Canada, Saanichton, BC

  • All Souls Charlottesville, Charlottesville, VA

  • Theological Horizons, Charlottesville, VA

Residencies

Photo by Micah Lindstrom. 2024.