She is an artist that fashion insiders whisper about, the illustrator whose confidence with color has turned runway sets into Mediterranean coastlines and tote bags into objects of desire. And yet she has described herself as a “very behind-the-scenes shy type.”
Born in Perth, Western Australia in 1961 and educated in graphic design and photography at Curtin University, Christina Zimpel’s early career was rooted in the polished corridors of Vogue, first in Australia, then in New York, where she absorbed a sophisticated sense of composition, nuance and narrative.
But her time spent as an art director proved less an endpoint than a rehearsal. It was not until she began drawing self-portraits at her kitchen table, “I thought it was time to be a maker too, and suddenly out it all poured”, that her true creative voice emerged.
Christina Zimpel - photography Nir Arieli
Zimpel’s practice is deceptively simple on the surface. Faces, figures, and fragments of daily life are distilled to a few decisive lines and saturated planes of bold color. But within this elegant economy lies something more subtle, the tension between familiarity and estrangement, between almost classical poise and visual playfulness.
She loves color because, it allows her “to be an extrovert”, and she spends hours in the studio “balancing unusual combinations until they no longer feel unusual.”
Her figures, often female and archetypal, seem poised between eras, almost Victorian in repose, yet utterly contemporary in confidence.
Curators have noted that Zimpel “exaggerates, reduces and modernises archetypes,” and that in her hands body language becomes “a representation of dignity, awkwardness, and humour.”
In 2018 she was commissioned to paint the portraits of 30 nominees and honourees for the CFDA Awards, propelling her into the fashion world.
Soon after, Michael Kors enlisted her for a Spring runway set, sending huge dream-like Mediterranean coastlines rolling down Pier 17 in New York. “I figured that if I felt I was being transported from my Brooklyn kitchen (where I work), then I was on the right track,” she explained at the time. She balances interiors and murals for global brands with personal paintings that begin, still, at that kitchen table, pencil first, layered with ink and acrylic until the image emerges.
Christina Zimpel - photography Nir Arieli
Now, Artspace and The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts are pleased to present CLAP, 2025, a new hand-painted edition by Christina Zimpel. Produced in an intimate edition of 36, each print is uniquely hand-embellished in gouache. CLAP reflects Zimpel’s interest in exploring the “movement of the body, and the transparency and opaqueness of clothing, and varying expressions of femininity,” capturing what she describes as “a moment of truth” through the work’s precise and bold composition.
In CLAP, 2025, each hand-embellished figure carries a distinct mood, inviting viewers to discover subtle variations across the edition. Rather than embellishing the background, Zimpel focuses on the face, creating a series of women, each with their own panache and individuality. With color playing a central role in her process, she often begins with fluorescent pink gouache before layering in hues left over from previous paintings.
“Color is absolutely integral to my practice. It lifts and inspires me. I grew up in the sixties and seventies, so I guess I hung on to the pop sensibility,” she tells Artspace.
The edition was co-commissioned by Artspace and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to coincide with the fourth annual Festival of Firsts, highlighting artists exploring new horizons and celebrating major career milestones. Zimpel’s work has been exhibited internationally in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Recent residencies include La Brea Studio Artist Residency, Los Angeles, and Schönfeld C, Brussels.
We asked her about the new edition and her wider practice.
Christina Zimpel - photography Nir Arieli
Your paintings often depict unusual, theatrical women with bold colors and expressive gestures —how did this focus develop and what do these figures represent to you? Are they in any sense 'self-portraits'? I’ve always admired people who refuse to conform. That started quite early for me. Living in Western Australia it was easy to spot the outsiders. My mother was probably my first fascination as she had an individuality the other mothers didn’t have.
My subjects are likely a veiled portrait of my mother's spirit and mine combined. A lot of that can be communicated through body language, clarity of composition and color.
Although I do not really use photographic references directly in my work I love the moment of truth artists such as Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman capture and it’s my goal to try to give that moment to my paintings - without that feeling of connection I don’t think they work.
Tell us about the genesis of Clap, what you were thinking when you created the original painting, and the place it occupies in your heart and in your wider body of work. Clap was a painting I made for a solo at my gallery in Denmark HAGD Contemporary in 2025. I was revisiting a few paintings and drawings I’d done earlier with similar compositions. It evolved organically into a type of performance or rehearsal.
I am influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec and my own graphic design background, so I really enjoyed working on the movement of the body, the transparency or opaqueness of clothes and level of femininity.
A gif featuring the unique hand-embellished versions of each edition
Tell us about the hand embellishing of the edition. As my compositions are quite precise, I decided not to embellish the figure or background but concentrate on the face. I thought I’d create many women, many moods and each with their own personality. I’m concerned that women are becoming way too homogenous these days, so it was great to see all these characters emerge!
Color plays an important role in your work. How do you decide on a palette before you begin a piece and what has inspired your bold approach to color? Color is absolutely integral to my practice. It lifts and inspires me. I grew up in the sixties and seventies, so I guess I hung on to the pop sensibility. I often start with sketching the figure using pink, fluorescent gouache, then add backgrounds of any color I have an excess of from previous works.
This forces me to be open to mixing unusual combinations and creating interesting accidents. I very rarely know where my final color palette will take me until right up to the end when I’ve changed it many times. That process gives subtle layers and a glow you can’t always discern in a photograph.
Photography Garrett Carroll
Your works sometimes flirt with abstraction and figuration. How do you balance these two impulses in a single piece? I love that juxtaposition. I definitely reduce my figures to the absolute minimum. I keep reducing the body until I know it can still be read but teetering on abstraction and remove or shave down everything else. It gives the work a lot of strength viewed from a distance. Closer up the face and hair adornment is the area I like to tell more of the story.
Looking at your body of work over the years, do you see major shifts in your approach or recurring motifs that have evolved? I think I have evolved in the application of the paint, but at the core I can’t really control what appears on the canvas, even if I have plans to make something very different. I look forward every day to see what happens.
Christina Zimpel - photography Nir Arieli
Your background in graphic design and Vogue art direction informs your visual language — how did that experience shape your painterly approach? I think it has influenced me greatly. I stared at a lot of photographs and figured out how to create a balance in editorial design that worked for me. Editing film added to my own natural attention to detail and I apply that knowledge every day.
Collaboration and commission work feature prominently in your career, especially on your numerous fashion projects, how do you maintain your own artistic voice within collaborative briefs? If I can work on outside projects where the people involved and the vision is strong and they are open to mine, then it’s one of the most pleasurable experiences. I have met many wonderful and inspiring people and learnt a lot!
What would you like buyers of this edition to experience? I’d love them to feel the pleasure I had in making each one unique.
Take a closer look at CLAP, 2025,.
Photography Garrett Carroll
Photography Garrett Carroll
Photography Garrett Carroll
