From the moment aqua and brown took hold of Christine’s psyche, and the tangible essence of growing up in Lake Tahoe's surroundings seeped into her being, her path as a creative was certain. So certain that with determination and a dash of audacity, Christine talked her way into the French restaurant in Tahoe, at the tender age of fourteen.
Five years later, she ascended to the role of sous chef, and embarked on a path that saw her working in the bustling kitchens of New York, San Francisco, Hawaii, Paris and lastly Rome, where she also taught at an esteemed Cooking School.
In love with Italy, and furthering her deep interest in food culture, Christine moved to a village of 300 in the Italian countryside to learn how to keep bees, cure meats, make wine and olive oil.
Yet, Christine's artistic spirit remained restless. And she craved more professional skills to apply to the quirky assemblages and paintings she was making. Returning to her roots in California, she found inspiration and kindred spirits at the renowned San Francisco Art Institute where she studied painting and photography. While there she developed a distinctive style of collage that served as both a medium and a compositional strategy, in tandem with her exploration of abstract expressionism through large canvases.
Working with varying forms, playing with scale, Christine has developed a language that speaks through juxtapositions of images, color, shape, movement, layering, and erosion.
Her palette, whether working purely abstractly or with iconic imagery, ranges in rich, saturated, often incongruent hues to almost bare uses of black and white to privilege the raw canvas. In every case, for Christine, painting is energy.
Her paintings are “landscapes” not in the traditional sense, but in a somatic sense, whether responding to light, composition, color, energy of a real place or the internal psychological landscape of the interior psyche and/or domestic space, as captured in her representational work.
This notion itself is magnified in Christine’s approach to the canvas, particularly her abstract paintings: “There’s something about the verticality of these canvasses in relation to the body. What my body does when I meet the canvas, but also for the immersive visceral experience for the viewer”. Her abstract paintings emerge out of a collaborative effort and engagement between the artist and her materials, the desired impetus, and the parameters she sets forth for the painting to realize “itself.”
This same energy and visual language form the foundation of Christine's practice as a stylist, set designer, and director. Collaborating with fellow creatives, she turns concepts into physical realities, infusing each project with a unique blend of materials, colors, and textures to evoke moods, elicit emotions, and tell stories.
To see her commercial work go to: www.wolheimstyle.com
Anti-Sexual violence piece
with Model Channy
for "We Step Into The Light" show
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Captain OKO Design
Point Reyes, CA
2018 Lines and Gestures
Yonder
San Francisco, CA
2011 Balms for the Busy
Cowboys & Angels
San Francisco, CA
2006 Paving the Way
Di Pietro Todd
San Francisco, CA
2005 Helium
24seven @ 49 Geary
San Francisco, CA
2005 Fabricate
Ambitalia
Mill Valley, CA
2004 Wolheim
24seven @ 49 Geary
San Francisco, CA
2000 Heaven
Luna Rossa
San Francisco, CA
1997 Fotografie delle Marche
Il Particolare
Petritoli, Italy
1997 Recent Works
Wyatt Studio Gallery
San Francisco, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 In Flux: Recalibrating the Unknown
MONCA: Museum of Northern California Art
Chico, CA
2024 The View
A juried online exhibition curated by Judy Zhu
2017 TOGETHER
Heron Arts
San Francisco, CA
2011 We Step Into the Light
Create Social Change Exhibition
San Francisco, CA
Artists were paired with a survivor of sexual violence and invited to make a portrait of their subject as not merely a survivor but as one who thrives.
2008 Rock. Paper. Scissors
Untitled Gallery
Sausalito, CA
2006 Winter Show and Auction
Hotel Des Artes
San Francisco, CA
2003 Wolheim, Garcia, Del Rosario
Washington Square Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2002 Untitled
Limn Gallery Showroom
San Francisco, CA
2002 SF/LA
Basswerk Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
2001 The Arts Forum Inauguration Exhibition
Irvine Fine Arts Center
Irvine, CA
2001 Five New Artists
Kweejibo Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2000 In the Beginning
Mission Cultural Center
San Francisco, CA
2000 Women's Work Jubilee
Venue 9
San Francisco, CA
1999 Endo/Exo
The Music Annex
Menlo Park, CA
1999 The New Book of Etiquette
Diego Rivera Gallery
San Francisco, CA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Vanesssa Silva, San Francisco, CA
Carla Bourque, Woodacre, CA
Joe Kyle Jr, San Francisco, CA
Vx Capital Partners, San Francisco, CA
Younossi Law Offices, San Francisco, CA
Lupe Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
Ty Hunter, San Quentin, CA
Thomas Roedoc, Sausalito, CA
Anthony Grant, New York, NY
Frances Bowes, San Francisco, CA
Jessica Ress, Sausalito, CA
Major Mugrage, San Francisco, CA
Former Mayor Willie Brown, San Francisco, CA
Merlin Coleman, Berkeley, CA
Amanda Rieux, Kamuela, Hawaii
Agnes Kersten, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Donna and Ian Fitzpatrick, Greenbrae, CA
Davy Crockett & Mara Meisner, Mill Valley, CA
Ilya Yukhtman, New York, NY
Elaine Kim, San Francisco, CA
Adam Bard & Renee Beard, Boston, MA
Nancy Colville, Los Angeles, CA
Lourens Crous & Arturo Cosenza, San Francisco, CA
Katie Christ, Sonoma, CA
Tracey Fischer, Joshua Tree, CA
RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022–present Art Workshops. 3 hour and multi-day workshops guiding particIpants through the process of abstraction, collage, Indigo dyeing, figure gesture drawing, etc.
2020–present Youth Mentor in Art: Learning to Trust One’s voice, Authentic mark making. Creative excursions and lessons in studio: instructing on a wide range of materials
2018 Ombre Wall Treatment Design and Video
Sunset Magazine Home Style
2008 Cover Art for Anti-Poetry Magazine
August edition
2006 Commissioned Paintings, Paul Wallace
Interior Design
San Francisco, CA
2006 Compact Disc Artwork and Cover Design for Merlin Coleman
Berkeley, CA
2004 Business Card/Artwork/Brochure Design
Interior Alchemy
San Francisco, CA
2003 Guest Lecturer at San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, CA
2000 - 2004 Founder, co-curator and host
Woolsey St. Downstairs Gallery & Cold Cuts Sessions
(an ongoing monthly salon)
Berkeley, CA
2002 Commissioned Painting, Insalata's Restaurant
San Anselmo, CA
2002 Compact Disc Photography, Artwork and Cover Design for Peoples Bizarre
San Francisco, CA
1997 Art History Tutor, San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION
1997- 2001 B.F.A. San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, CA
GRANTS, AWARDS and AFFILIATIONS
1999 Honor Studio Recipient
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, CA
1998 and 1999 Ivan Majdrakoff Painting Merit Award
San Francisco, CA