Kate Cheney Chappell
Sea Stars on a Walk, one of a kind lotus fold artist book
All the life of the planet is interrelated...each species has its own ties to others, and all are related to the earth.
~ Rachel Carson
The interconnection of all living creatures and systems is a strong theme in my work. Our water, our oceans, our very survival is in peril. When one travels, the evidence of climate change is poignant and stunning- from glaciers melting in Iceland to lagoon waters rising in Venice.
In recent years I have joined printmakers from Peregrine Press on art making trips to various countries. We have done residencies and workshops and shows in Ireland, Iceland and Italy. The solar etchings ( a nontoxic technique using the sun to create the plate) in this show reflect what I witnessed: the melting glaciers in Iceland and the rising seas in Ireland, so intimately linked to the moon and tides, against which the mighty dolmen stones stand sentinel.
ON MY ARTIST BOOKS:
With the exception of the DosEquis journal and the Shibori-dyed journal ( both hand bound hardcover artist books), all my artist books in the show are what I call “walking” books. They are lotus fold accordions that expand out of their matching boxes and covers and playfully “walk.” Many are connected to animals in peril: lions, giraffes, sea stars, octopus- imagine “walking” with them!
~ Kate Cheney Chappell
Kate Cheney Chappell is a painter, printmaker and installation artist who lives in Kennebunk, and maintains studios in Westbrook and Monhegan Island. Her suspended 3-D steel and paper installation, “Mother Ocean,” was on view as part of the Peregrine Press @ 30 show at Cove Street Arts this fall.
Kate’s formal education includes the study of drawing, painting and etching in Paris under the Sarah Lawrence Program, and with Vaino Kola at Chatham College; drawing with Pat Franklin and painting with Juris Ubans and Jeanna Bearce at the University of Southern Maine, as well as numerous workshops at Haystack and MECA.
She has had several one person exhibits, including “InterRelated,” a show that honored the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Her “New/ Now” exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art was favorably reviewed in Art New England. Group shows include the George Marshall Store gallery in York, Maine; June LaCombe’s outdoor sculpture exhibit at Laudholm/Wells Reserve; and Highfield Hall & Gardens in Falmouth, Mass.
Her work can be found in many private collections, and in the collections of the New Britain Museum, the Portland Museum of Art, Colby, Bates and Bowdoin Colleges, and the New York Public Library, among others.
Kate has been making books since early childhood. “The Illuminated Autobiography,” a book arts course taught by Rebecca Goodale at USM, inspired her to create a Center for Book Arts at the University, now in its 14th year. She has been making and showing artist books for over 25 years, and her work has been shown at the Portland Public Library, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and the Glickman Family Library.
