Kate Cheney Chappell Art Space

Mixed Media

Interesting things happen at the juncture of different mediums: between field and water, the shape of a river, its sinewy curve, is defined. Biologists say the boundary places like marsh or forest edge are where the concentration of life is. Living on the edge is juicy! I am really drawn to the creative energy of media when they are mixed in unexpected ways. I combine printmaking and painting; make paper act like sculpture; & incorporate all sorts of organic material in my 2-D work.

Mountain Time

Begun during a 2010 printmaking residency at the Vermont Studio Center, this is a series that explores two ideas of time described by the ancient Greeks: chronos and kairos. The graphite pencil marks are counting by fives; they are called tally marks. The recurring mountain image is made by reduction monotype; found objects include: polished stones, giant pine needles and string.

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The Scrolls

These are printed on full sheet (22"x30") BFK Rives paper. They stand away from the hand printed base paper, suspended from a scroll made of paper covered tubes and stones. Organic elements include porcupine quills, eucalyptus leaves, and rusted iron.

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Envelopes

Greed and alienation from nature is leading to unprecedented degradation of what envelops and sustains us: the air, soil, water, and creatures on which we depend for life. As an invocation to this essential interdependence, I have been making ìEarth Envelopesî since 2002. They begin as flat, full sheets (22" x 30") of Rives BFK paper that I print as monotypes, then paint and collage over, and fold into womb-like shapes that hang on the wall. Each has references to the elements, to creatures, to genetic information, or to growth patterns.

Click on the image at left to see more of these.