Angela Chalmers

Ophelia 2

2009-11-02T22:10:00.000Z

Sit Tight

2009-11-02T22:08:00.001Z

Silence

2009-11-02T22:07:00.000Z

Rise Up

2009-11-02T22:05:00.000Z

Stoop

2009-11-02T22:03:00.000Z

Statement

2009-10-29T22:29:00.007Z

In my work I strive to create a particular effect by combining a sense of the 'beautiful' with the 'grotesque'. I am interested in the uncanny and often try to convey an unsettling feeling or some kind of undercurrent to my work. My ideas are explored through the process of drawing, painting and photography, and often reference the autobiographical.

My paintings evolve through a method of pouring and dripping a limited palette of water-based media onto selected handmade and plastic-coated papers. The intrinsic qualities of the water-based media are allowed to flow, alchemically marbling into organic form and line.

My work executed on Melinex aim to create a visual tension between the sensory qualities of a tactile and lustrous surface against opposing textures painted on the reverse. By simultaneously working with earth coloured inks and utilising the plastic nature of the support allows these paintings to convey elements of resilience and decay.

Stretch

2009-10-29T22:25:00.002Z

Fusion Series

2009-10-29T21:47:00.002Z

Pigment on Acetate
21 x 29cm
2005

Measure Up

2009-10-29T21:40:00.003Z

Digital media, laboratory beakers, glass shelf
91cm x 23cm

Scientific jars contain overlapping layers of photographic film depicting the female form.

Installation at my BA Degree Show 2005

Contact

2009-10-29T20:56:00.001Z

For more information please email
studio@angelachalmers.com
tel: 07957 545266

Ectopic

2009-10-22T18:52:00.007+01:00

Biography

2009-10-21T13:18:00.013+01:00

QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING

2005 First Class BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Hull, Yorkshire, England
2002 Art & Design Foundation Studies, Greenwich Community College, London

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007 Fragile Nature, Back o' the Shop Gallery, Terrington, York
2006 Surface Tension, Grosmont Gallery, Grosmont, North Yorkshire

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010 Pindar East Coast Open, Scarborough Art Gallery, Scarborough
2009 Naked Ambition, Grosmont Gallery, Grosmont
2009 Cluster Approving Association, turn-berlin, Berlin, Germany
2009 North Yorkshire Open Studios 09, The South Street Gallery, Scarborough
2009 Mini Art Show, The South Street Gallery, Scarborough
2008 Linked, Pocklington Arts Centre, York
2008 Exit Velocity, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull
2008 From Studio to South Street, The South Street Gallery, Scarborough
2008 North Yorkshire Open Studios 08, Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby
2008 Branching Out, The South Street Gallery, Scarborough
2007 First Things First, The South Street Gallery, Scarborough
2007 Woman is not a Sex Symbol, Blandscliff Gallery, Scarborough
2007 Artists Show 2007, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds
2007 East Yorkshire Open, Sewerby Hall, Bridlington
2007 Indwelling: Living in a Female Body, Cooper Union, New York, USA
2007 Open Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
2006 Body, Alex May Gallery, Bridlington
2006 East Coast Open, Scarborough Art Gallery, Scarborough
2005 Blues on the Moors, Grosmont Gallery, Grosmont
2005 New Journeys, Grosmont Gallery, Grosmont
2005 Open Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

OTHER

2008 Secret Art Sale, in support of 'Shelter', Levitt Bernstein at Shelter, London
2007 NewcastleGateshead Art Fair 2007, Gateshead Quays, Tyne and Wear
2006 York Freedom Auction (organized by University of York in support of CAMFED, The Campaign for Female Education in Africa), Bishopthorpe Palace, York

PRIZES & AWARDS

2006 Celeste Art Prize (shortlisted)

Incomplete

2009-10-20T22:51:00.004+01:00

I have been reflecting on my work recently and have dug out some old unfinished pieces. My studio drawers are full of them and today I was feeling determined to be creative and do something with them.

Cluster Approving Association, turn-berlin Gallery

2009-08-14T09:57:00.009+01:00

Head 1, 2, 3 & 4,
Ink on Melinex

Berlin, Germany, 2009

South Street Open Studios

2009-06-15T17:51:00.007+01:00

Left to right > Stretch > Body and Soul > Pin Up

North Yorkshire Open Studios 12th - 28th June 2009
The South Street Gallery, Scarborough

Body and Soul

2009-06-04T10:06:00.005+01:00

New work

2009-05-27T22:34:00.019+01:00

Carborundum & Collagraph
20 x 25cm

Pink Flush

2009-05-25T01:01:00.007+01:00

On Show

2009-05-06T16:54:00.009+01:00

Figurative show.
Yorkshire Wolds Gallery.

1. Figure Study, 2004, Ink on paper, 47 x 83cm
2. Stoop, 2008, Ink on paper, 57 x 77cm

Mini Art Show 2009

2009-04-27T09:35:00.005+01:00

Shrunk to Fit

2009-04-18T22:52:00.011+01:00

I have been working on a smaller size recently for a 'Mini Art Show', which I am curating at the South Street Gallery. It was initially a real challenge to shrink my work onto a 6 x 4 inch piece of paper. After throwing many away, I decided to try mono printing, which is something I have never considered doing before. At last I was getting somewhere...

These new experiments have given me some interesting ideas that will be worked through on a much larger scale.

Questions & Answers

2009-03-16T11:07:00.025Z

Dear Angela Chalmers
I am currently studying Fine Art in my final year. My theme is based on woman in contemporary society and how they seek to change their identities through cosmetic surgery, and how they become un-natural and almost a super race or unique beings. My portrayals of these women have the same underlying ideas as the women do in your own paintings. For example, the juxtaposition between the beautiful and the grotesque convey unsettling feelings for the viewer. In "Ophelia", 2004 there is a lifeless, horrific depiction of a female figure, which is one of my favourites. If you could take some time and answer just a couple of questions it would be greatly appreciated and would give me an insight into a living artists world, working with some ideas that I share.

'Ophelia', is one of my most treasured pieces, and was probably the key starting point for most of my ideas. Whilst doing my degree I read many feminist essays, which I think clarified my own thoughts relating to social issues and personal concerns. This led to some of my work becoming autobiographical alongside work that contains deeper social and cultural meanings. Your questions mainly refer towards my ideas exploring contemporary media culture; such as the way that modern society appears to be obsessed with physical appearance and smooth flawless skin.

Q: Why do you feel that a female form is most fitting for what you want to portray?
The female form is a universal motif and I use it as a strategy to question, challenge and subvert the art historic representation of the female nude. The use of self-portraiture typified by Jenny Saville, Cindy Sherman and Francesca Woodman, have been my biggest influences. They recognised the need to represent a feminine identity on their own terms.

Q: The use of earthy tones in your paintings creates a sense of decay together with the washes of the inks, do you feel the palette enhances all of your ideas of the grotesque and the beautiful and does it enhance those ideas, and why?
The earthy tones certainly help to evoke a sense of decay, although it wasn’t intentional. I am not concerned with colour like some artists and prefer to work in monotones. My method of pouring and dripping inks to create organic form and line probably enhance those ideas more.

Q: In "Hello boys", 2005 a female form is portrayed in a stereotypical seductive pose, do your paintings comment or refer to the male gaze or how woman are represented in society?
Both, but mostly highlights ideas about the male gaze. I wanted to assert the presence of femininity to expose and de-construct. Compared to the majority of my work it was a liberating piece at the time of making.

Q: Do you feel the scale would create more of an unsettling feeling if it was a lot larger, or do you choose to work on this scale for a particular reason?
I think scale is important and agree that larger pieces would have a more powerful effect. Some of my current pieces may end up in commercial galleries who prefer a smaller scale.

Q: What is your technique, do you work from a live model or photographs etc?
I sometimes use photographs of myself, or adapt found images. I intend to use models at some point, which will certainly help in my search for extreme expressive poses.

Q: The positions of the forms can sometimes look disfigured or deformed can you explain the reasons behind this?
I am inspired by Surrealism, especially artists such as Hans Bellmer. His distortion of the female form has influenced me mostly, although my concerns are more related to a surreal transformation of body and mind that perhaps accompanies emotional upheavals or self-induced oppressions, such as negative self-body image. During the process of making (as described above) the form itself may be lost or re-discovered, which often produces an abstracted figure.

Q: In your photography you comment on saying "By fragmenting elements of the female body, the viewer has to invest time into deciphering the form, subverting the traditional expectations of the female nude" is this also to unsettle the viewer as do you paintings, if so why is this a key aspect in your work?
Through my work I attempt to uncover alternative visions. The layered photographic images attempt to reflect a rebellious body. I was thinking about my own personal struggles and wanted to challenge the spectatorship with a more complex representation of the female form. I have to admit that I often question myself to why I do things in certain ways. There is always an element of soul-searching and reflection, which I’m sure you will find too.

Plasticised

2009-01-20T22:27:00.016Z

Shortlisted for the Celeste Art Prize in 2006.

Surface Tension, Grosmont Gallery, 2006

2009-01-19T23:59:00.015Z

I am working through ideas that attempt to balance opposites such as 'control and chaos', 'organic and synthetic', as well as 'beautiful' with the 'grotesque'. I often wonder why I have this obsession with contradictions and question why it is important to focus on these elements through my work. Perhaps, it is about hidden personal conflicts, provocation, rebellion, or just a playful tease. Whatever it is, I'm fascinated by the way that opposites quite often attract despite being extremely different.