Patricia Chapman Artist's Statement

I have had the rare good fortune to have worked as an artist most of my life. Perhaps I was very, very good in some past life. But I have always appreciated that I have been able to devote so much of my time to this obsession I have to create art.

Making assemblage enables me to give full reign to my hunter gatherer instincts. I find it transcendently joyful to hunt my way through antique malls and thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales in search of the objects that have the power to tell my stories. I feel like I am an author and that the objects I have collected are my characters and all I have to do is to stand back and allow them to say what they have to say.

These relics of survival become icons of defiance and despair, metaphors for confusion and obsession, and representatives of stories of hope, disappointment, fear, memories, and search for identity and love. The boxes I construct for my assemblage are stages where these objects and images become the players of the fragile weave of humor and tragedy we humans are constantly engaged in. There is both a lot of humor and a lot of pain in my work and I believe we all dance that fine line. I see my work as a celebration of our survival in the face of these rampant polarities.

Patricia Chapman

Born Aurora, Illinois
Education - Arizona State University, 1971 - 1973
San Francisco Academy of Art, 1969 - 1970

 

  Exhibitions  

2005-“18th Annual Competition” - Alexandria Museum of Art – Alexandria, Louisiana

2005- “Book As Inspiration: The Road Show” – St. John’s College – Santa Fe, New Mexico

2005- “Small Works National” – Manhattan Arts International – New York, New York

2005- “Women, Words and Images” – Mills Pond House – St. James, New York

2005- “Collect 8” – The Center For Contemporary Arts – Santa Fe, New Mexcio

2005- “New Mexico Book Arts: Works Of Enchantment” – Paper Gami Gallery- Albuquerque, New Mexico

2004 - “SElections” – Santa Fe Art Institute - Santa Fe, New Mexico

2004 - “Recycled Art Show”- Juried Exhibition – Sweeney Center – Santa Fe, New Mexico

2004 -" Book As Art IV – “Archival/Ephemeral” - Gallery Zipp - Santa Fe County, New Mexico

2004 - “Celebrating the Goddess” – Joan Handley Fine Art Gallery, La Veta, Colorado

2003- "International Assemblage Show" - Gallery twenty-four- Berlin, Germany

2003- "El Ancon Show"- Ribera, New Mexico

2003- "Context: Art & Words"- The Art Center - Grand Junction, Colorado

2003- "Third Annual Book As Art Show" - Zipp Gallery, Santa Fe County, New Mexico

2003- "Art In A Box" - Zipp Gallery- Santa Fe County, New Mexico

2002 - "Mythology, Metamorphosis, And The Milky Way" - Zipp Gallery,- Santa Fe County, New Mexico

2002- "Recycled Art Show" - Sweeney Center - Santa Fe, New Mexico

2002- "Shamans And Shrines" - Zipp Gallery - Glorieta, New Mexico

2002-"About Faces" - Zipp Gallery - Glorieta, New Mexico

2002-"The Buddha Abides" - Caruso/Woods Gallery - Santa Barbara, California

2001- Caruso/Woods Gallery - Santa Barbara, California

1998 - "Une Ange Passe" - Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California

1997 - "Une Ange Passe" - Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California

1983 - Artex Gallery - Los Angeles, California Boston Fine Arts - Boston, Massachusetts

1982 - Art Resources Gallery - Denver, Colorado Fine Art Consultants - Houston, Texas

1981 - Choice Gallery Inc. - San Francisco, California

1979 - Morris Theater Gallery - Baltimore, Maryland

1978 - Del Mano Gallery - Los Angeles, California

1977 - Triad/Art Source Gallery - Los Angeles, California Art Connection Gallery - Los Angeles, California

1975 - "Women/Arizona `75", - Tucson Museum of Art, Limner Gallery - Scottsdale, Arizona

1974 - "Crafts `74", - Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
"Fibers `74", - Scottsdale Civic Center Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona The Showplace Gallery - San Francisco, California "Textilia"- Matthews Center, Tempe, Arizona

1973 - "Objects: Textile Descriptions" - Fine Arts Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona "Western Family Album" - Studio Designs and the Greenery, Phoenix, Arizona

1975 - 1986 -Commissioned Art work

Standard Oil of Ohio - Cleveland, Ohio

Riviera Hotel - Las Vegas, Nevada

Bank of America - Ontario, California City of Commerce, California

Hyatt Regency Hotel - New York, New York, Chicago, Illinois

Hilton Hotel, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Dean Witter Reynolds New York, New York Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Whitman Elementary School - Spokane, Washington Awarded by the Arts in Public Buildings Committee

National Reinsurance - Stamford, Connecticut

Hartford National Bank - Stamford, Connecticut

Sun Oil Services - Radnor, Pennsylvania

Lockheed Finance Corporation - Los Angeles, California

Nordic Bank - New York, New York

Malibu Savings and Loan - Malibu, California

Lloyds Bank - Los Angeles, California

Allstate Savings - Glendale, California

Citizens Savings Arcadia, California Torrance, California

Guardian Insurance Company - Washington, D.C.

Veterans Administration Hospital - Bronx, New York

Riggs National Bank - Washington, D.C.

Broadway Department Store - Santa Monica, California

Saks Fifth Avenue Stores

New York, New York
Boston, Massachusetts
Atlanta, Georgia
Springfield, Massachusetts
Costa Mesa, California
Cleveland, Ohio
Skokie, Illinois Garden City, New Jersey
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Palo Alto, California