Shop Maine Craft Presents…

BIG

A Tim Christensen solo exhibition of large scale ceramic work.

On View: July 22 – August 29, 2025

As part of his recognition as the 2023 recipient of the Maine Craft Artist Award, Tim Christensen presents BIG, a solo exhibition exploring identity, scale, and persona through sgraffito pottery.

In an era ruled by spectacle, BIG is a meditation on scale, not only of objects, but of perception. This exhibition is a kind of self-portrait in persona: Tim Christensen as commodity, performer, construct. With unflinching honesty and sharp cultural critique, Christensen confronts the blurred line between who we are and who we sell ourselves to be.

“This show is a new form of self portrait, from an art history perspective. It’s a self portrait of the artist as he is perceived by those professionally around him, the artist made by the people who know his work, and the artist who is created to sell it. Basically, this show postulates that the product is very often the artist, rather than the art. You can’t miss the artist, right there in the entranceway.”

Through this collection, Christensen explores the widening gulf between his private self and professional role, between the quiet hermit and the public figure. Once a recluse, fluent in birdsong and solitude, he now navigates an art world driven by confidence, charisma, and visibility. Yet behind that polished exterior remains a deeply private maker, skeptical of the very systems that fuel his recognition.

“Tim Christensen is an artist, author, and educator, residing in Downeast Maine. He travels the world, documenting endangered relationships and ecosystems in his distinctive black and white sgraffito on porcelain. He has been creating intricately carved artwork in his off grid studio, thinking about the challenges of creating art in a carbon-aware time, since 2008. His work is well known worldwide.”

“The most challenging piece that an artist makes is their public persona."

“This is true in my case, as I’d rather be in the woods, mostly alone, than just about any place else. I also need to connect and communicate with people to feel I’m creating with a purpose. So, in order to be a successful artist, the first thing that I have to do is actually create an artist out of myself, my thoughts, my stuff, my past, my friends, my family, and all of the things around me. This show is THAT guy’s show.”

At the core of BIG is a provocative question: what happens when the artist becomes the product? In this post-truth, post-authenticity landscape, identity itself is curated, branded, and sold. Christensen argues that in a culture dominated by performance and the attention economy, we risk mistaking curated personas for truth, both individually and societally, and that true authenticity, often hidden and unmarketable, must be recognized and protected before we lose our grip on what’s real.

Visit the Center for Maine Craft:

288 Lewiston Rd West Gardiner, ME 04345
Open Daily, 9am – 6pm
(207)588-0021
center@shopmainecraft.com

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