Erica Chappuis

Artist Statement

I come from a long line of sailors and sea captains. My work in mixed media painting and assemblage involves seafaring themes, as well as such themes that involve a certain level of the fanciful, as would have been common among sailors in the Age of Sail. I have found that some of my photography also imparts many of those same themes, that they often express that line between reality and fantasy that recall's sailor's art; the Sailor's Valentines and the scrimshaw... I occasionally exhibit my photography alongside or in addition to my mixed media painting, as I feel they are part and parcel of searching for my images.