Paula Christenson is an Argentinian-American Painter working between Salt Lake City, Utah and Houston, Texas. In her abstract paintings, Christenson celebrates spontaneous expressions and emotional freedom over intellectualism and realism.

From an early age, Christenson leaned towards education and art, eventually earning a degree in Elementary Education. Art has always been her favorite tool to support her teaching role. However, not long after starting her teaching career in Argentina, life brought her to the United States where she realized that being a teacher wasn't fulfilling her desire to express herself through art. That's when she decided to take formal classes at The Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas.

She felt at home creating art and found an encouraging community of artists that helped her to expand her artistic goals. Christenson's competitive and perfectionist nature, combined with formal art education, has resulted in the development of her own style of contemporary abstract art. In 2020, she was invited by one of her art instructors, to become a member of LAWAH (Latin American Women Artists of Houston). At this point, she transitioned her educational career from the classroom to the canvas, and her focus is now celebrating our unstructured gifts as humans.

Through her artwork, Christenson feels a sense of freedom. Although not always objectively beautiful, she believes there is a unique type of beauty achieved in her pieces. Those that want  to celebrate the spontaneous and mysterious part of human nature may appreciate her work. Christenson's compositions are an invitation to viewers to excite their imaginations, let go of stress, and lose themselves temporarily among the colors, shapes and lines. 

Christenson's paintings have been displayed in Houston at Crimson's Penthouse Gallery in River Oaks; Serendipity Labs in the Galleria area, and the downtown Kinder Morgan building. Her work has also been selected for: Visionary Art Collective's exhibition Revelations curated by Victoria J. Fry, the University of Houston's 2022 Billboards Campaign of the Spring of Latino Art, and Art Show International Gallery's 5th abstract juried art competition, where she won first prize.

When writing about Paula Christenson’s art Renee Phillips, Director/Curator, Manhattan Arts International, NYC, NY, states, “A spontaneous interplay of undulating shapes and dynamic contrasting colors and textures emanate from Paula Christenson’s paintings. Her lively compositions provide a continuous crescendo of delightful abstract forms. They appear as a mélange of familiar shapes from nature, human and architectural elements, often as though viewed from an aerial perspective. Her inimitable imagery is as equally exquisite aesthetically as it serves to remind us about our place and evolution in the human experience.”