Do you want a personal invite to my solo exhibition entitled The Quiet Rebuild at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre? I’d love to have you there! Please email me your address and wait by the mailbox! The countdown is on. Only two months till The Quiet Rebuild opens.
Summer? What summer? Oh, do you mean the heat wave that is passing through my art studio in the Harcourt House Annex? Ah, that summer. Yes, it’s true. I’ve been spending countless hours at work, despite the nice weather, as my solo exhibition in Harcourt’s main space is quickly approaching. It’s just over two months away. TWO months! I can hardly believe it.
It seems like only yesterday that I walked into the white walled space and set down roots in the gallery community. Now, I am completely out of wall space. I feel like my work has taken on a life of its own and has grown in depth and breadth. It’s a good time.
I am finishing sculptures, paintings, mixed media 2D work, no wait 3D work… it can’t decide what it is! I am presently embarking on a photographic component to my work as well, incorporating images of our local Edmonton construction that we all love so much. Plus photographs of people will also begin in just two days! (A huge thank you to all my lovely volunteers who have opened up about their struggles and what it has taken for them to rebuild their life.)
All the artwork speaks to this one large message: the human heart can endure much and rebuild itself after hardship. Side note, the rebuild process is never easy and always creates something altogether new. I call my work, “The Quiet Rebuild.”
After you enjoy Harcourt House’s members exhibition, Kinetic, and gobble up a delicious burger on the lawn in front of the gallery, come find me in the Annex building for the Artist in Residence meet and greet. I will be giving a poetry reading and doing a woodworking demo.
One of my wood sculptures that incorporates Jenga and pieces of wood I cut into a whimsical structure.
See you tonight!
Click here for the address and more details.
New Work, Residency and the Groove
March in the Studio, AIR Update
Artist in Residence interview on Shaw TV
This Thursday night I will be opening my art studio in the Harcourt Annex for visitors. I will also be giving a poetry reading and doing a demo of my woodworking techniques. This coincides with Harcourt’s annual member’s exhibition; this year the theme is Kinetic. It’s going to be a great night! Also in store: a complementary BBQ on the grass in front of the gallery (YUM!) and a free life drawing workshop.
I truly love what I am working on in my studio at Harcourt House. My art is full of color and shape. Come Thursday, June 20th and see for yourself.
For me, the hardship was losing my second child to a cardiac tumor in 2010. Since then I have been slowly (sometimes extremely slowly) and quietly rebuilding my life. I have found that art became and remains an important tool and expression of my grief and search for hope. Everyone will find meaning in this artwork.
I am working with a lot of wood, both natural and manufactured in “The Quiet Rebuild.” Other materials I am using include yarn, Jenga blocks, paper, and acrylic paint. Oh and photography as well. I feel such an amazing connection with my art and am looking forward to sharing it with our local community within my studio, where all the magic happens!
The poem I will be reading speaks to the time I lost my son, whom we named Zachary. I am currently working on branding (burning) the poem onto wood panels. I will share more about the meaning of the poem and my wood burning technique at the demo.
Click here for specific info about the Kinetic exhibition and Artist in Residence meet and greet. Hope to see you there!!
This is a fish-eye photo of my poem I am branding onto wood panels. Come to the Artist in Residence meet and greet to hear a reading of the poem and see my wood burning techniques first hand.
The 25th anniversary of Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre in Edmonton will be celebrated with another stellar event, the annual Member’s Exhibition. As a part of the Works Art and Design Festival, the theme and title of the show is Kinetic.
This event doubles as a fundraiser for the gallery and I encourage all to come out and lend support to an amazing local organization. I will be selling my new (never before seen) work to support Harcourt and their impressive list of programs.
As the Artist in Residence at Harcourt House, I will be opening my studio, giving a poetry reading and demonstrating the woodworking techniques I have developed in my current body of work entitled, “The Quiet Rebuild.” It is going to be an exciting opening and exhibition!
Save the date! Here are the details:
Artwork and photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute
Being the Artist in Residence at Harcourt House has allowed me to find my footing within my current body of art and take off running. The time and space they have provided me to develop my creative work is one of the greatest gifts an artist can receive. The people who work at Harcourt House are pretty amazing too!
Truly the time has flown by and with the close of March I tick off my fifth month at the gallery. Five months! On one hand I feel like, ‘Where has the time gone?’ but on the other I am amazed at the gift of time itself.
Art and photography copyright Alexis Marie Chute
What exactly do I spend my time on you ask? Answer: lots of hard work and creative play.
I approach my artwork through experimentation with my chosen materials (wood, glue, yarn, acrylic paint…) while holding my concept loosely in my head (and my heart) to see where it all takes me.
For those of you new to my blog, the greater meaning behind my work is the idea of rebuilding ones life after hardship. My method is very akin to my materials and process themselves; I am experimenting using art to heal.
Art and photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute
The images in this post are some of my very recent work. I began using Jenga pieces in some of my compositions and found this consumerist approach a fun twist while drawing on the concept of the game itself; build as high as you can until your structure falls over. When it does, which is always the case, you laugh and build again learning from your mistakes and constructing your tower even higher the next time.
I love a comment from Brand on my last Harcourt House Residency update. He said my work reminded him of photographic pixels. That notion blows me a way – I LOVE IT! It totally jives with the photographer in me. I am percolating ideas of how to incorporate that concept into my work and am excited about it.
As always, I LOVE company at my studio so please come for a visit! I purposefully have lots of seating so come talk art, life or whatever is on your mind. Contact me to find a time that works.
As February stretches onwards, I marvel that I am over a quarter of the way into my residency at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre. To say time flies is an understatement; time tornados by! Yet, I make sure to slow myself to appreciate every precious moment of it.
I wanted to share some of my new work that has been my labor of love since November 2012. Really, I have too much to share here and will soon create a new category on my website in the portfolio section. Stay tuned.
Copyright Alexis Marie Chute
I have been working with wood, both sculpturally and on flat surfaces. Currently I am holding my breath waiting on a big order of cut wooden pieces to arrive – then I will be feverishly creating even more unique “city-like” designs (so I’ve been told they resemble by visitors to my studio). The long wait would be negated if anyone reading this is skilled with a _________ (insert word here that names a wood cutting tool with the precision to cut very small squares) – if you or someone you know is able to give me a hand, please get in touch!
At first I wasn’t quite sure how my paintings relate to my wood creations but when the Harcourt House Executive Director, Derek Brooks, popped in one day and explained to me the correlation – I finally got it. It’s true, apparently, that artists can be too close to their own work to notice connections sometimes.
I am in the groove working in my studio. It’s a romance with my materials and I am constantly exploring new ways of creating with them – truly a fun time.
