Christina Watka

Whistler: His paintings, to me, are expressive and soft. He maintains lightness with the paint. It astounds me. Whether a portrait, a landscape, or an abstract piece, each painting has a certain mood. I feel it instantly. The colors (oh, those olive greens!), the way he applies the paint, the compositions, the light and dark, etc. etc. all contribute to the astonishing way of his work.

Klimt: His paintings are breathtaking. He melts his female figures into their blanketed surroundings and uses gold leaf in the most unprecedented way. His colors are flamboyant and expressive, and his forms are abstract, but when he puts those forms against flesh painted in an excruciatingly realistic way, it’s almost jarring. Still, he keeps me looking. I love his vertical, Japanese-like compositions. They almost trap the figures inside, but I don’t ever crave their escape.

Tara Donovan: Donovan’s work is obviously astounding because she makes any notion of specific materials disappear inside her work. One of those images is made of straws, one is made of mylar. By multiplying the forms over and over, she creates these memorizing, sometimes room-sized sculptures that are illuminated, sharp, soft, atmospheric, undulating, pulsating, deep, glowing, colorful, absent, etc. etc. Seeing her work is the only way to experience it. Pictures do not begin to do it justice.

Richard Wright: I was just introduced to his work because he won the Turner prize for 2009. He illuminates space. His designs and forms are timeless, and his repetition seems like it would make you want to sit down and patiently navigate each piece until you had followed every line to your toes. I wish I could go to London now to see his stuff.

Doris Salcedo: I cannot begin to express how fond of Doris’ work I am. It rests on the bridge between absence and presence. She explains loss better than any other artist I have met. She literally made a huge, splitting CRACK down the main corridor of the Tate Modern museum. Anyone who does that has my attention. She sewed two wooden tables together with human hair threaded through needle holes. Look her up. Now.