My first exposure to Colin’s work was about 10 years ago, outside of an amazing Comic/Custom Toy/Book/Art Gallery, and everything in between store, called Tates Comics-Toys-More. It’s located in Lauderhill, about 15 miles West of Ft. Lauderdale in sunny South Florida. The owner of the store, Tate, and Colin are great friends. There are 3 incredible Colin Christian sculptures just inside the stores front window! Ever since that day, all those years ago, when those sculptures first appeared in that window, I’ve been mesmerized by Colin’s work. I’ve followed his career very closely, and with each new piece, I fall in love all over again.
To describe Colins work, you’d have to describe his life as well. As he has said before, “My life and work are inextricably tied together, and I cannot explain one without doing so with the other.” A huge part of that life includes meeting and falling head over heels in love with his beautiful wife and amazing artist Sas Christian. Whenever I read anything where Colin talks about his love and respect for her, it’s palpable. You can actually feel the deep bond they share when you read his words. Two fantastic artists living under one roof, imagine the fun they must have together!
The first business they started was Hotbox Inc. in 1995. They started this adventure while both were working in a print shop trying to make ends meet. Hotbox Inc. made Couture Rubber Clothing. They made their own sheet rubber, multi colored, patterned and textured. Nobody else was doing anything like that at the time. After exploring this business for several years, they both got a job at a commercial art studio, and became aware of the major movement in art called Lowbrow. Sas was quite intrigued by this, she was especially in awe of the incredible Mark Ryden. She wanted to try painting, something she’d never tried before. She used some books as a reference, and away she went! It was obvious that she had talent from the start. They both agreed that Sas would work on her painting and Colin would take up some Commercial work to pay the bills. By 1999 Sas painted her first big eye painting, called “Jam Sandwich”, and by 2004 she was appearing in Gallery shows. No training what so ever, just sheer will. Sas Christian is now an established artist, very well known throughout the world.
Colin continued to work on his own sculptural work and experiment with fiberglass in between commercial jobs. He began to hone in his skills to a manageable level. In 2004 he created “Moist As A Snackcake”, the first figure to include silicone in the design. The response to her was tremendous, people loved it. He then began to add more fetishy/sci fi elements that he’s now become known for. In 2005 Colin was able to focus solely on his fine art. I wondered what his process was like, from beginning to end. I found a blog post of his where he explains it in detail, here Colin walks us through his work process when starting a new piece. He says, “Basically I start a new piece in foam and wood, coating it in clay, making a mold and then reproducing it in fiberglass which is then sanded, details added, primed and painted. The faces are sculpted separately and I make a separate set of interlocking molds from which I make the silicone parts. The eyes are cast domes, which I then turn on a lathe and polish. I make teeth from dental acrylic or larger ones from epoxy. The large faces are painted with automotive paints thinned down a great deal, usually 7-10 colors in all and then applied in a splatter pattern. An average face usually has about 20 layers of paint. It’s time consuming stuff. The whole process is very labor intensive – dirty, smelly, dusty and dangerous. There is no easy way out. One of my irritations is that somehow people think it pops out easy peasy. It can take months to do a single piece. I have an assistant, a kid from Puerto Rico who helps me sand, bondo and clean up after me. He’s awesome.”
‘Moist As A SnackCake’, Colin Christian
Through everything they’ve gone though, all the ups and downs of life, he and Sas have remained happily married, and more devoted to each other then ever. A lot of artist couples strive to be known on their own, not in conjunction with their partner, however Colin & Sas are a creative team. There work blends together, feeds off the other, you can see Colin in Sas’s paintings, and you can see Sas in Colins sculptures, they inspire each other and this is clearly reflected in their work.
I’ve put together a mix of both Sas and Colins work below, enjoy your journey though complete and utter lust, fantasy, gorgeous oils on canvas, stunning breasts made from fiberglass and silicone, and much much more! It’s never boring when it comes to these two brilliant artists…….
Colin Christian
Sas Christian
Colin & Sas Christian
