Christine Forni is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting and sculpture, alternative photography, drawing, and installation. She has exhibited at venues such as Ueno Royal Japanese Art Museum, DeCordova Sculpture Museum, Piedmont’s Museo di Scienze Naturali to Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.
Forni, a midwestern artist, lives in Chicago. In 2015, she uprooted her life to study abroad in Paris. While overseas she exhibited at Academia Romana and was a guest speaker at the international physicists conference on Constructal Law in Bucharest. She had an artist residency at École du Breuil d’Horticulture where she researched Parisian gardener’s organization of native and non-native plants collected from around the world. Concurrently she had a residency at Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle there she documented and drew details of bones specimen similarities amassed by naturalist during the colonial exploration period.
Born in Cleveland, Forni spent her younger years in the industrial cities of Pittsburgh and Detroit while living in an apartment complex next to a small forest preserve. Forni experienced the dichotomy of industrial backdrops along with time spent in nature — these layered alternate environments inform her practice today.
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Studio portrait photographed by Farah Salem
Museum Historie d’Histoire Naturelle
Curriculum Vitae
Education
- Paris College of Art, BFA, Fine Art, Cum Laude, 2017
- Iowa State University, BA Graphic Design, Emphasis Metalsmithing, 1989
- School of the Art Institute, Continuing Education, 2021
Selected Residencies
- Oregon Caves National Monument, Cave Junction, OR, 2023
- Sour Wood Art & Nature Residency, Amherst, VA, 2021
- Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2019
- Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN, 2019
- Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2017- 2019
- École du Breuil d’Horticulture, Paris, France, 2017
- Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle, Paris, France, 2016
Selected Solo, Two & Three Person Exhibitions
2024 - McHenry County College, solo exhibition, Crystal Lake, IL (August - September)
- Epiphany Center for the Arts, three person exhibtion with Bobbi Meier and Lynn Basa, Chicago, IL (April-May)
2023 - OS Projects, two person exhibition with Jennifer Mannebach, Racine, WI (November-January)
- In Reciprocity: Humans & Nature, Visual Arts Gallery, three person exhibition with Joanne Aono,
and Deanna Krueger, Govonors State Univistiy, University Park, IL
2019 - Remembering Sophia’s Garden, Ignition Project, solo exhibition, Chicago, IL
2017 - (un)Common Resemblance, Academia Romana, solo exhibition, Bucharest, Romania
2016 - Specimen, Rue de Rocroy Space, solo exhibition, Paris, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 - Environment/s/tallation, Bridgeport Art Center, curated by Marci Rubin, Chicago, IL
2022 - Satellite, exhibited at The Franklin with Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Autumn Maximum, curated by Lee Moser, Mu Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Circuition, curated by Lee Moser, Mu Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Touch Points, curated by Claudine Ise, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
2021 - Evanston + Vicinity Art Biennial, curated by Dan Devening, Evanston, IL
2020 - Face to Face, Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Art-in-Place, CNL Projects and Terrain Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2019 - Black & White, Galerie Camille, Detroit, MI
2018 - Landmass Performance, North Park Village Nature Center, Chicago, IL
- Fugitive Narratives, Hyde Park Art Center, curated by Mike Nourse, Chicago, IL
- Chicago Sculpture International Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
2017 - A.I.M.P.E., Awagami’s Hall of Awa Japanese Handmade Paper Museum Exhibition, Tokushima, Japan
- Speaking Alone Together, Galerie Crous, Paris, France
2016 - Tempo Memoria, Museo Internazional Italian Art, Turin, Italy
- Drawing the Line, Espace F15, Paris, France
2015 - 53rd Art Exchange Symposium, Busan Federation of Art & Culture, South Korea
- Seductive Material, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago
- Front & Center, curated by Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
2014 - Rockford Art Museum Biennial, curated by William Lieberman, Rockford, IL
- 52nd Art Exchange Symposium, Busan Federation of Art & Culture, South Korea
- La Frontera, Velvet DaVinci Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- The Galaxy of the Brain, University of Chicago Health & Wellness Center Chicago, IL
2013 - Artists Respond to Genocide, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
- La Frontera, Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City, Mexico
- Cultural Symbiosis, Centro Cultural de Baja California, Mexico
- The Ring, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2012 - Art + Energy + Future, Museo di Scienze Torrino, Turin, Italy
- Synergy, Artspace 191, Vienna, Austria
2011 - 44th Memorial International Enameling Art Exhibition, Modern Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- Objects of Status, Power and Adornment, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
- Sculptural Objects and Functional Art Exposition, Pistachio Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Society of Northern American Goldsmith, collaboration with Japanese ceramicist, Momoko Usami, Seattle, WA
- Cohesion, Bridging Fine Art & Fine Craft, curator, Zhou B Art Center Chicago, IL
2010 - 2000
- Transformation 5, The Art Association, Jackson, WY
- Sculptural Objects and Functional Art Exposition, Pistachio Gallery, Chicago, IL
- 30 and Beyond, curated by David Revere McFadden, chief curator for MAD Museum, ISU, Ames, IA
- 44th Memorial International Enameling Art Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
- Raphael Founder Prize Exhibition, Mixed media, Society for Fine Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
- SNAG exhibition, Houston Museum of Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
- 40th Memorial International Enameling Art Exhibition, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- La Exposición, Ilamada Figuracions, Centre d’Artesania de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
- Ornamental 8, DeCordova Museum and Sculptural Park, Lincoln, MA
Selected Honors & Grants
- DCASE Grant, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Individual Artist Program, Chicago, 2023
- Awagami’s Japanese Handmade Paper Museum Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Tokushima, Japan, 2018
- Hyde Park Art Center, Center Program, Chicago, IL, 2015
- Chicago Artists Month, Featured Artist, Chicago, IL, 2011
- Elizabeth Raphael’s Founder’s Prize, Finalist, Pittsburgh, PA 2005
- James R. Thompson Award, Illinois Arts Council, Grant Awarded, Chicago, IL, 2003
- Focus Grant, Stipend & Iowa State University Parks Library Exhibition, Ames, IA, 1987
Selected Articles, Media, Books and Catalogs
- Environment/s/Stallations, Newcity Art, Exhibition Review, Chicago, IL, 2023
- In Place: Drawing You Outside, Block Club, Chicago, IL, 2022
- Top Pick, Bad at Sports, Circuition, Mu Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2022
- In the Studio with Christine Forni, DeGroot Fine Arts, Chicago, IL, 2021
- Top Pick, Bad at Sports, Remembering Sophia’s Garden at Ignition Project, Chicago, IL, 2019
- Chicago Sculpture International Biennial, exhibition catalog, Chicago, IL, 2018
- A.I.M.P.E., exhibition catalog, Tokushima, Japan, 2017
- Italia Arte Magazine, Tempo Memoria, magazine article, Turin, Italy, 2016
- 53rd Art Exchange Symposium, exhibition catalog, Busan Federation of Art & Culture, South Korea, 2015
- Italia Arte Magazine, (un)Common Resemblance, magazine article, Turin, Italy, 2014
- 52nd Art Exchange Symposium, exhibition catalog, Busan Federation of Art & Culture, South Korea, 2014
- 44th Memorial International Enameling Art Exhibition, exhibition catalog, Tokyo, Japan, 2013
- Artists Respond to Genocide, exhibition catalog, UIMA, Chicago, IL, 2013
- 500 Necklaces, Lark Books, 2013
- Art Energy Future, Regional Museum of Natural Science, exhibition catalog, Turin, Italy, 2012
- Chicago Tonight, Artist short film documentary PBS, 2011
- Art Jewelry Today 3, hardbound book, Author Jeffrey Snyder, 2011
- Artist Documentary, Chicago Artist Month, City of Chicago, IL, 2011
- Lapidary Journal Jewelry Art, Magazine, February, 2009
- 30 and Beyond College of Design, exhibition catalog, ISU, Ames, IA , 2009
- Art Jewelry Today 2, hardbound book, Author Jeffrey Snyder, 2008
- Transformation 5, exhibition catalog, 2005
- Atre Yjoya, Spanish Contemporary Art Jewelry, magazine article, May-July, 2004
- Art Jewelry Today, hardbound book, Author Dona Meilach, 2003
- Lapidary Journal, magazine article, 2003
- American Style, magazine article, 2002
- Art Beat, Chicago Public Television, 2002
Teaching & Demonstrations
- Tryon Farm Institute Nature Series - Light and Lines with Charcoal, Chicago, IL, 2019
- Hyde Park Art Center - Demonstration 23kt gold leaf kiln fused on enameled steel, Chicago, IL, 2018
- Paris College of Art - Demonstration chincolé techniques on etching press, Paris, France, 2016
- Zhou B Art Center - Sugar Fired Enameling Workshop, Chicago, IL, 2014
- Highland Park Arts Center - Torch Firing Enamel Instructor, Highland Park, IL, 2007
- Escuela de la Llotja - Metalsmithing Workshop Instructor. Barcelona, Spain, 2004 Fall
- Loyola University - Substitute Metalsmithing Professor, Chicago, IL, 2004 Spring
- Highland Park Arts Center - Metalsmithing Instructor, Highland Park, IL, 2003 - 2006
- Oriental Institute - Children’s Egyptian Copper Embossing Workshop, Chicago, IL, 2001
- LillStreet Art Center - Metalsmithing Instructor, Chicago, IL, 1996 - 2005
Artist Talks
- Drawing You Outside - Invited Speaker at CLC Physics Conference, Turin, Italy, 2023 (September)
- In Reciprocity Humans & Nature, Governors State University, Governors Park, IL, 2023
- Chromatic Spectrum Landscape & Beautiful Disease Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2023
- Natural Connections: Printmaking and Sculpture, Grand Marais Art Colony, MN, 2019
- Moments Intertwined with Plants, Artist Talk, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2018
- (un)Common Relationships in the Nature’s Designs, Invited Speaker, Constructal Law and
Second Law Conference, International Physicist Conference, Bucharest, Romania, 2017
- Changing Memories, Artist Talk Museum of International Italian Art, Turin Italy, 2016
- Bridging Fine Art & Fine Craft, Artist Talk, Chicago Artist Month, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2011
- Metal Transformation and Cocooning, Artist Talk, Escuela Llotia Barcelona, Spain, 2004