Jacqui's Portfolio

JACQUI CHAPMAN

Oxton Village, Wirral, Merseyside, England

e-mail:    jacqui(at)jacquichapman.com

website: www.jacquichapman.com

Artist’s  statement

Memory itself is the central theme that underpins my practice. Its mercurial nature is investigated through method, materials and presentation. I immerse myself in the sensation of landscapes remembered from my homeland, South Africa, in a metaphorical abstract painterly language which transfers the process of remembering.

The concept that it is impossible to pin memory down is demonstrated in paintings without horizons and which have a restless energy, being in a state of flux. Mixing opposites of oil and water creates surface tension, with compositional movement suggesting that memory is unreliable and constantly changing. I follow an instinctive, subconscious link to places where elemental forces collide, often painting coastlines. My work explores the relationship in us between identity and territory and demonstrates that they are integral to what we are.

Recent paintings refer to the more uplifting aspects of familiarity, reunion and peace in colours that evoke much more than just the visual, and where a sense of smell engages memory more acutely in the saltiness of the sea or the velvety scent of warm roses in the vineyards near Cape Town. The science that qualifies the sense of smell and its close association with memory is a subject I am interested in and have started to research.

British landscapes, particularly estuaries and waterfalls, invite a new geography and sense of belonging.

Since qualifying with a 1st class BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree at Wirral, Metropolitan College (John Moores University accredited) in 2006, and then completing my Fellowship the following year, I have exhibited widely in the North West of England in commercial and public galleries, the Liverpool Biennials and the Manchester Buy Art Fair.

My first solo show, Amalfi to Cape Town, was hosted by Jigsaw, Liverpool 1, earlier this year.

I was delighted to be invited to exhibit at the Florence Biennial in December 2011. I have recently been appointed to the Liverpool Independents Biennial Board.

Biography

Born in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa, I grew up on farms on the doorstep of game reserves. Every year Christmas holidays united cousins on the Wild Coast in places that are unspoilt and remote. This sense of belonging to the land gave me a deeply rooted African spirit which on emigrating made me question the significance of homeland and the influence of it.

Prior to immigrating to England in 1995 to get married, I had a successful career in Advertising as an Art Director for 14 years with international Agencies in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Auckland and lastly in Liverpool. My work received acclaim both nationally in South Africa and internationally, winning several awards.

I live in Oxton Village in England.  When my children started school and I retrained and qualified in 2006 with a 1st class B.A. (Hons) Fine Art Degree, followed by a Fellowship in 2007.

Qualifications

2011  Liverpool Independents Biennial Board

2007  Fellowship, Wirral Metropolitan College, Birkenhead, Wirral, England

2006  B.A.(Hons) Fine Art Degree, Wirral Metropolitan College, (Liverpool John Moores University accredited), England

1981  Graphic Design, Johannesburg and Cape Technikon Colleges, South Africa

1978  Pretoria Girls High School, South Africa - S.A. Matriculation (equivalent A-level) Art A*

Artist’s Groups

2011          MOSAIC – Artists’ International Collective

2011-2012 Markmakers, the Brindley, Runcorn, Cheshire, England

2006-2012 Oxton Artists, Williamson Art Gallery, Oxton, Wirral, England

2006-2007 Shrew Collective, Wirral Metropolitan College Fine Art Graduates, Birkenhead, England.

Workshops

2007-2009 BIG DRAW, Oxton Village & Williamson Art Gallery,Birkenhead, Wirral, U.K.

2006          TATE Liverpool, ‘Summer of Love’ exhibition assisted in workshops

Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibition

12/05/11    Amalfi to Cape Town, Jigsaw, School Lane, Liverpool 1, England

Selected Group Exhibitions

3/12/11     Florence Biennale 2012, Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy

26/11/11   Winter, Gallery SCA, Shropshire Contemporary Arts, Shrewsbury

31/07/11   de-junk re-junk, Birkenhead Park Visitor Centre, Birkenhead

15/07/11   Wirral Festival of Firsts, Oxton Village, Wirral

09/07/11   Here and Now, Milmoda Art, Custard Factory, Birmingham

05/03/11   Work on Paper, Gallery SCA, Shropshire Contemporary Arts, Shrewsbury

08/12/10   Christmas Exhibition, Gallery SCA, Shropshire Contemporary Arts, Shrewsbury

20/11/10   Here and Now, Milmoda Art, Sefton Hotel, Douglas, Isle of Man

28/10/10   Ferryman Milmoda Art, Buy Art Fair, Spinningfields, Manchester

19/11/09   Liverpool Open Exhibition, Editions Gallery,16 Cook Street, Liverpool

17/11/09   Speed Art Presentation, Racquet Club, Liverpool

16/10/09   Coast in Rising Stars Exhibition, The Artroom Gallery, Parkgate, Cheshire

14/03/09   Foreign Body, Gallery SCA, Shropshire ContemporaryArts, Shrewsbury

31/01/09   Exile Hemingways, Duke Street, Liverpool

29/11/08   A Winters Collection Gallery SCA, Shropshire Contemporary Arts, Shrewsbury

15/11/08   Liverpool Artists Book Fair, 11 Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool

22/08/08   Liverpool Independents Biennial 08 during Capital of Culture – Watermark in Modern Contemporary Creatives, Artroom Gallery, Parkgate, Cheshire

04/05/08   Park Life, Shrew Collective, Birkenhead Park Pavilion, Birkenhead, Wirral

12/04/08   Scissorspaperstone, Artists Book Fair, London Print Studio, London

06/02/08   In Love, Rowan Gallery, The Old Chapel, Mold, North Wales

12/10/07   under my skin, Wirral Metropolitan College Fellowship, Williamson Art Gallery, Wirral

14/10/06   Liverpool Independents Biennial 2006, Shrew Collective, Woodside, Birkenhead

16/06/06   Degree Show, Wirral Metropolitan College, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

14/12/05   Einstein Exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Street, Birkenhead Annual Shows

2006 - 2008  International Artists Book Fair, Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England

2006 - 2012  Oxton Art Fair, Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Street, Birkenhead, England.

Image Gallery

 Exile I, Oil on Canvas, 153x122cm, 2006

 Exile V, Oil on Canvas, 153x122cm, 2007

Blown, Oil on Canvas,76x76cm, 2009

 Snakes & Ladders, Oil on Canvas, 90x90cm, 2012

Snow Crows (2), Oil on Canvas, 154x107cm, 2013

 Jacqui Chapman 2011