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VIRTUAL SENIOR SHOW: Chloe Calhoun

Chloe Calhoun
Tue, May 4, 2021, 12:00 am to Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 11:59 pm

VIRTUAL SENIOR SHOW: Chloe Calhoun

I enjoy examining how subtleties of the human body can be twisted into physical representations of nuanced personal emotional journeys. This stems from a desire to visualize in images the profoundly experiential and sometimes incommunicable range of emotions every one of us is capable of experiencing (even if not fully understanding.) I make bodily art because it seems like the antithesis of much more abstract feelings which might otherwise remain fully internal. I have been inspired by Greek myths of metamorphosis since childhood, and I have a continuing desire to use these potent metaphors of physical transformation in my own more feminist mythology.

Chloe Calhoun

Title: "But you have let your heart decide"

Medium: Drypoint and photolithograph

Year: 2020

I work with the theme of hybrid human-botanical figures as a way to make physical and bodily the internal experience of complex human emotions. I look at the regrowth and healing of wounded plants as a metaphor for emotional healing. Change and growth sometimes happen to us whether or not we are conscious or willing, but it’s an inevitability. 

 

Chloe Calhoun 2

Title: Shatter

Medium: CMYK Photolithograph

Year: 2020

This print explores the concept of "mono no aware," a Japanese term for the awareness of the impermanence of life, and the "deep gentle sadness" about this reality. Art history is rife with the use of flowers to symbolize this, but the process of making this image made it even more symbolic, as I had to pick a dandelion, carry it gently in hand on the bus to studio, and then smash it under the glass of the scanner, immortalizing the ephemeral beauty by destroying it. The transformation of the flower’s impermanent beauty into a work of art isn’t objectively good or bad.

 

Chloe Calhoun 3

Title: Oh Comely

Medium: Stone lithograph

Year: 2019

In several pieces, I have explored bodies with duplicated limbs as a metaphor for an inner voice, whether that be a source of self-comfort, or self-criticism. I imagine carrying with me as my conjoined sisters the inner critic that is my anxiety, and the inner child I feel the need to nurture. The narrative I imagined for this piece is one about finding freedom in self-love. The cacti pictured are cereus cacti, which only bloom at night. Being the only one to witness your own self blooming is still something beautiful.

 

Chloe Calhoun 4

Title: Daphne (State 2)

Medium: Stone lithograph

Year:2019

 

Chloe Calhoun 5

Title: Daphne (State 3)

Medium: Stone lithograph

Year: 2019

The myth of Daphne is horribly misogynistic, with an act of sexual violence at its center, but I felt drawn to the symbolism of her moment of transformation. I used this iconography, this hybrid being caught in metamorphosis, to think about more abstract concepts of growing armor over oneself in an act of sacrifice and self-preservation. To me, Daphne taking on the form of a tree represents the healing and regrowth she can still emerge into. Existing at the convergence of plant and animal holds the power of both softness and resilience.

 

Chloe Calhoun 6

Title: Andros

Medium: Polyester plate lithograph

Year: 2021

I find snakes to be a recurring icon in my art. Here, a disembodied hand holds a snake at arm’s length, but its fangs are facing toward where the figure’s body would be. This could be strength, or it could be foolishness. The other figure is a boy from the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. I wanted to juxtapose different cultural values about masculinity–beauty, adornment, and self-expression versus power, strength, and bravery to the point of folly.

 

Chloe Calhoun 7

Title: Nymphaea

Medium: Drypoint

Year: 2019

I created this piece at a time I was experiencing some new and painful emotions. I wanted only to create art about solace and freedom, capturing the feeling of diving into a warm pond. I think art can be very cathartic in expressing negative emotions, but I also value art as a source of comfort and art that makes you feel good can be just as important.