Opening Reception: Athena On My Mind

Athena On My Mind

OPENING RECEPTION: September 12th| 6-9PM

Athena in My Mind is a collection of paintings, illustrated poetry, and custom-made frames that explore the ways Athena lives in my imagination, not just as a goddess, but as a lens through which I think about courage, wisdom, creativity, and the lifelong climb it takes to reach our full potential.

The exhibition explores Athena as both mythological figure and personal symbol. Figurative paintings, portraits, studies of architecture and landscape, and recurring classical imagery both reimagine the birth of Athena and connect myth to the contemporary experience of womanhood in today’s world.

Throughout the series, books, wings, mountains and caverns, growing plants, shattered vessels, approaching storms, and fragments of classical architecture become visual metaphors for learning, resilience, transformation, resistance to suppression, and the ongoing act of creation.

Custom-made frames extend the narrative beyond the painted surface, at times swallowing and caging the artwork, embodying the internal and external barriers that stand between who we are and the people we are meant to be.

Athena in My Mind is an invitation to reflect on the stories that shape us, and on the barriers and limitations in our own lives that are worth breaking.

Christine Welman is an author and oil painter whose work bridges fine art and speculative fiction, exploring identity through story. Drawing on fairy tales, myth, legend, historical figures, and the natural world, her work often centers women while re-imagining cultural archetypes. She believes the stories we tell ourselves shape who we become. Her work explores what it means to be human and finding the courage to create.

Welman teaches oil painting at Mitchell Street Arts in Milwaukee, WI.