Artist Talk: Navigating Art and Autism

Aurelia Gallery is currently showing an exhibition of abstract geometric paintings by Santa Fe artist Christa Stephens –  Perceptual Abstractions: Field Theories From the Autism Spectrum  – October 16 through December 4, 2022 Diagnosed with Autism, Stephens has been open to speaking publicly about her condition and how it influences and expresses itself in her artwork, drawing upon the complex intellectual processes of her neurodivergence.

Christa Stephens grew up on the high plains of eastern New Mexico. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in music and working as a musician for several years, she pursued studies in fine art and graphic design that inspired her to create a unique drafting/painting technique based on her desire to communicate abstract concepts with precision and clarity. This hybrid process, combined with her musical training, evolved into a practice she refers to as “methodical improvisation.”

Christa has autism and experiences perceptual differences that inform her creative practice. She has chromesthesia, a type of synesthesia in which sound evokes visual perceptions of colors, shapes, and patterns. Drawn to geometry as a way to simplify and process these encounters, she utilizes a conceptual language of elemental shapes to describe the wonderment she feels at the confluence of sensory experience and consciousness. Using her exceptional ability in visual perception, she synthesizes her world into elaborate, hard-edge abstractions that juxtapose a dynamic range of color, line, and form with an unpredictable compositional style.