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Fashion Art Fusion, Artist Portraits

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I had fun posing for the camera with my artwork, called “The Quiet Rebuild,” in my studio. This work will be exhibited at Harcourt House Gallery in just a few days.

The Quiet Rebuild run October 24 to November 29, 2013

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 24, 2013

7:30pm –  I will be giving an artist talk about my work

8:00-10:00pm – Reception, snacks and mingling

Harcourt House Gallery: 3rd floor, 10215-112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta

http://harcourthouse.ab.ca/

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Fall Harcourt House Artist in Residence Update

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The Quiet Rebuild

“The Quiet Rebuild” – my art show at the culmination of my year as Artist in Residence at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre – officially opens in exactly one week! I can hardly believe it! The year has gone by so quickly and I have cherished every precious moment of it.

 

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

My studio has undergone massive transformations as well. I started my residency with two loveseats and now there are none as I needed every square foot. If you come and visit my studio you’ll have to sit on a painting chair… but still come! When my residency began the walls were bare yet now it seems like every inch of space has been transformed. In November 2012 I set out with delicate, two foot tall wood sculptures and now have large, nearly 5 foot high, sculptures that weigh a ton. During the year I have also painted and worked with wood burning.

 

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

So what exactly is “The Quiet Rebuild” all about, you ask?

After my son died I discovered that art was a helpful tool to work through my grief and find healing. I also learned that people struggle in similar ways after all kinds of hardships and that one of the best traits of humanity is resiliency. My artwork in “The Quiet Rebuild” is an abstracted picture of my grief and journey to find healing. I also found inspiration in others who shared their stories with me from all kinds of struggle; these brave individuals have given me permission to share their stories with my viewers. The rebuilding process is quiet, unglamorous, but needed and soulful. I hope my work in “The Quiet Rebuild” will be a visual enjoyment and encouragement to many people.

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

When/Where/Why/How/Who

First of all, everyone is welcome!

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 24, 2013

7:30pm –  I will be giving an artist talk about my work

8:00-10:00pm – Reception, snacks and mingling

Harcourt House Gallery: 3rd floor, 10215-112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta

http://harcourthouse.ab.ca/

WHY: Because “The Quiet Rebuild” is quirky and beautiful; the artwork playful while deeply moving and thought-provoking.

Summer Artist in Residence Update

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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.

Alexis Marie Chute Artist in Residence Harcourt House Edmonton-0006 blog

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.)

Alexis Marie Chute Art Studio Harcourt House Gallery Blog 001

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.”

Mark your calendars for “The Quiet Rebuild”!

Thursday, October 24, 2013 – Opening Reception & artist talk

Visit the exhibition in the Harcourt House gallery from October 24 to Novemeber 24, 2013.

Alexis Marie Chute Art Studio Harcourt House Gallery Blog 002 Alexis Marie Chute Art Studio Harcourt House Gallery Blog 005

Open Art Studio, Open Heart

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It’s time for the Artist in Residence meet and greet at Harcourt House!

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.

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.

The body of art I am creating during my residency is called “The Quiet Rebuild” and is a visual picture of healing and rebuilding one’s life after hardship.

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.

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.

New Work, Residency and the Groove

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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

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.

 

Wood sculpture 01 art copyright Alexis Marie Chute

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.

Harcourt House AIR Update

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My wood sculptures are growing in width and height – and even colour! I have finished a small but complex piece and am breezing along with another that will end up being as tall as I am!

This week I will be building large stretchers, about 6 x7 feet, and stretching them with unprimed canvas. With these I will be creating my ‘forest’ so to speak. Likely by the New Year the walls of my studio will be transformed with colour and paintings of the evolution of the natural life of a forest through growth, fire and regrowth.

Wood pieces sit drying after being glued. Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

I have met a few other artists in the Harcourt House Annex and have come to feel so at home in my studio already. I want each moment of my residency to stretch out as long as possible – it is a dream come true and I love every second!

Little glued pieces wait to be used in my sculptures. Photo copyright Alexis Marie Chute

(AIR = Artist in Residence)

The Quiet Rebuild

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This post was first seen on my blog Wanted Chosen Planned as it relates to the rebuilding of my life after the loss of my son Zachary. I featured it there to encourage those who have lost a child to experiment with art (of all kinds: painting, photography, journal writing, etc.) as a means to find healing. I re-post it here as my hope for this blog is to bolster the weary creative spirit within us and to turn our frustration, fear, and failure into the artwork and creative writing that we were born to bring forth. 

“The Quiet Rebuild” © Alexis Marie Chute, Wood Sculpture 2012

I have been making sculpture although I am not primarily a sculptural artist. I find the use of my hands in the tactile nature of my recent artwork very soothing. My art has been focusing on the idea that we create our understanding of the world in many ways. When my son Zachary died, my world crashed down. Like a forest burn by fire, I was brought to ash, literally. It is fitting that my artwork uses wood, both natural and manmade. I find this particular piece, “Quiet Rebuild” particularly therapeutic to look at. It reminds me of where I am at, rebuilding my life in a different time, a simpler, basic time where my expectations of the world have been brought into check.

I rebuild my life and my understanding of the world from the burnt forest, atop a humble piece of wood. What I make of my life at this stage is truly of my own invention and each fragment of my understanding of the world comes together in an awkward balance but feels right in the face of everything I have endured.

Art is a personal and unique expression. It may not bring you the answers you search for but it can help you understand the questions you are asking. I encourage you to experiment, play and create like a child. Healing often does not arrive in the way we expect.

“The Quiet Rebuild” – When death comes and takes, it changes us who live. When we see this life as it is, the impermanence of all we hold dear and yet our ability to continue on, to love and value what truly matters, then we rebuild our soul with these lessons, changed yet whole.

Drawing Hearts for my Son – The Art of Struggle

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Artwork: “Wanted, Chosen, Planned” Mixed Media, September 2010 © Alexis Marie Chute

I was well over halfway to my due date when doctors discovered that my unborn child had a large tumor around his heart. This news began a month and a half of daily testing to determine if there was anything that could be done. There wasn’t and my son Zachary passed away shortly after he was born.

During the month and a half before Zachary’s birthday and death day, I made art. I made art based on the news we were given and the new world of medical technology and imaging that was opened up to me. I was so overwhelmed on a daily basis that art became my therapy. It was a means for me to think about our situation in an effort to make sense of it all. I now know I will never understand the “why” of this tragedy but that creating art in that time was a helpful means to cope.

As the main issue with my son’s condition was the tumor around his heart, I began to draw anatomical hearts using black pen. I made three copies of my favorite drawing using a laser printer and painted three backdrops in flowing reds and blues, two colours associated with blood flow that I watched in real time on the monitor during many fetal echocardiograms of my son’s heart.

I did gel transfers to apply the hearts to the paintings, the abstracted reds and blues of the painted backgrounds showing through the images. I applied a sheer aqua fabric to the areas surrounding the hearts, sewing it on with red thread which I let hang loosely in certain places. The blue, water like effect, references the fact that a heart that is not beating properly, as in the case of my son, causes fluid to build up in a person’s body.

Black bars along the bottom of the compositions anchor the three pieces together and reveal the words that constantly ran through my brain as I struggled in the helplessness of trying to save my son. Wanted. Chosen. Planned. These three concepts became my mantra, my prayer during that dark time.

 

Have you used art to help work through a struggle? Please share your experience.