Christian Schmidt-Rasmussen uses a figurative imagery that springs from the formal idiom that surrounds us daily, and often incorporates an array of painterly techniques in one and the same work. Literature and text in general are vital and have always been an inherent part of his oeuvre. In recent years, however, text and painting have started to appear separately. Many of the motifs in his later paintings come from Sydhavnen, the working-class district where he lives, which emerged with the harbour industries on the outskirts of southern Copenhagen. The mundane settings, with small parks and urban domestic neighbourhoods, often reveal poetic and imaginary elements, proving that things are not always what they appear to be in this world. In Bus Stop, Autumn, for instance, two people are queuing by a perfectly ordinary bus shelter, unaware of the yellow explosions set off by autumn in the trees behind them. In another work, Rooks and Jackdaws, the silhouettes of a flock of rooks and jackdaws, which appear often in his paintings, are set off by a fantastic yellow field against a backdrop of a vibrantly coloured wall, pointillist birches and a bright red roof. Everyday life can transform into an imaginative place if we just open our minds.