We were lucky to catch up with Drie Chapek recently and have shared our conversation below.

Drie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

In 1993 I began painting murals in my bedroom, various buildings and on theatre sets. I was enthralled with the ability to create a view into an entire world of human relationships and transformation of character on the stage. In the middle of earning my Set Design degree, at the University of Kansas, I was drawn to exploring my own themes in the Fine Arts. Before graduating with a BA from the University of Kansas, where I studied with Roger Shimomura and Tanya Hartman, I was given a full scholarship to study abroad in Stoke-on-Trent, England in 2001. It was there, that I learned I had a deep desire to create work that observes the visceral as well as the unknown to allow acceptance of it. While visiting large art museums in Europe I was inspired by the soulful imagery of ancient art, religious art, mandalas, indigenous art and visionary work to find a language that could talk about humanity and transformation with inclusion to the human experience.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

In my work, I am creating visual space to explore my inner world through imagery from the exterior world. I construct my painted environments with personal reminders of complexity, pain, pleasure and delight discovered within these worlds.

Through breath work and somatic experiencing I am able to hold the variables of life so that I can stay in my body as an active participant of my human experience. Composing collisions of energies gives me a visual field in which to explore and connect my life’s joy and grief experiences. This series was created while I was cold swimming almost daily in the Puget Sound. The water made physical and visual space within my daily practice of living and so also in my painting. My brushwork and paint application have come from psychological movement throughout my life. The result is physical movement within the frame of the canvas.

I traveled with long views through the air and across land to several homes spread across five states during each year of my childhood. I experienced different caretakers, environments and cultures. I searched for solid ground in that motion and found common threads in the earth we inhabit and the humanity we share. Our differences are vast but our connections and similarities are as well.

While backpacking into the wild I take comfort in observing the presence of erosion on the land. It’s a reminder of the vast time that the landscape has been transforming. I am continually aware of the long history of the Earth as my own time and impact in life are minimized by this realization. This brings my body and mind to awareness of my experience in the present moment. I am aware of my place in time, and that I am only a breath in time compared to the ages of the mountains. I am given permission to enjoy my brief life and, with ease, make what I can of it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to create a space for myself and others to process the complexities and pleasures in life. I begin my practice of making by sitting in quiet and the present. My mind will begin to move through thoughts. I often find while I explore my own thoughts about current life I also jump through portals to escape strong feelings. History, architecture, interior and exterior, as well as vast landscapes often appear as an escape to pleasure for me.

This series is allowing space to be with the present moment as well as giving an opening to move into imagined pleasure. This process of having an awareness of my current struggles then slipping into pleasure allows me to return to the present with a soothed nervous system. The reward to this practice is that I am better able to navigate current issues at hand with the pleasure, even if imagined, in my body.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I was born into a life of transition and movement ahead. As a child from two homes across many states, perspectives from the airplane as well as the road created views of connectivity in the greater picture. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Kansas were all in the annual routine as well as additional travel on the east coast, They were born into a life or death family as their older sister had severe health issues and was not expected to live, with on going operations she continues to live. Life and death as well as connection through the human experience on Earth continue to be themes Chapek explores.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.driechapek.com
• Instagram: @Drie_chapek
• Facebook: Drie Chapek Artist

Image Credits
Brandon Bondehagen Deb Achak