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- © Sally Chapman, “Bacchus, Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Pan, Statue of Pan, god of the wild. Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, MA, blanketed in flowers.”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Angel, Angel and child statue from St. Charles Borromeo Rectory, Woburn, MA. Apple tree in Dracut, MA. Pathway to marsh at Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA”
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- Sally Chapman, “Victory Marsh, BVictory monument in Lowell, MA. Salt mash on Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA. Blooms in Tower Hill Botanic Garden.”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Doughboy, First World War monument in Acre neighborhood, Lowell, MA. Tower Hill Botanical gardens.”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Cosmo Sailor, Civil War Union Sailor on monument in Worcester, MA. Crane Estate garden, Ipswich, MA.”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Zinnia_Path, Spanish American War monument, Lowell, MA. Lowell Tyngsborough, Dracut Woods and Zinnia garden in Lowell MA.”
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- © Sally Chapman, “Lettuce March, Union Soldier monument, Woburn, MA. Farm field of lettuce in Dracut, MA. Sumac branches on Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA.”
Statement
In Mythic Nature I create compositions of an imagined world. I am fascinated by statuary in the private and public space. These monuments have been erected to embody the mythos, ideals, and spiritual aspirations of the community. They are tributes to the sacrifice of local heroes, ancient gods, or religious icons and form the basis of my imagery. I digitally remove the statues from their stark plinths and merge them with an envisioned landscape, ensconced in blankets of flowers from manicured formal gardens that contrast the hand-hewn surfaces of statues with the natural world. From these composited images, I create digital negatives which I use to print in the 19th century cyanotype process. Drawn to this technique for its tactile quality, I further add my hand into the image by drawing with pastels. The vertical orientation is a nod to the Asian scroll format and accentuates the upward movement of the statuary and the flowering plants as they both reach for the light and our ideals. – SC
Bio
Sally Chapman is a photographer living in Lowell, MA. After earning a BFA in ceramics and photography from Michigan State University, she worked for over twenty years as a ceramic artist exhibiting widely. When she returned to photography ten years ago, she gravitated towards tactile methods of printing. In her current work, Mythic Nature, she uses the 19th century photographic process, cyanotype.
She has been published in The Hand magazine and has had solo shows at the MIT Rotch Architectural Library, Cambridge, MA; Gallery 93, Brookline, MA; and The Sanctuary in Medford, MA. She won the Excellence in Photography Award at the Rockport Art Association and Museum National Show. She has been included in many group shows including at the Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA; Image Flow Gallery, Mill Valley, CA; Soho Gallery, New York, NY; Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, VT; and the Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA.
In addition to her BFA in ceramics and photography from Michigan State University, Chapman has studied photography in workshops offered by the New England School of Photography, Griffin Museum, MIT, and Harvard University.
CV
Solo Shows
Art Church – Yards of Faith/Shrines and Altars, The Sanctuary, Medford, MA, Nov. 26 – Jan. 31, 2019
Night Becomes Us, The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA, 2017
Gallery 93: Yards of Faith/ Heritage, Brookline, MA, Nov. 2- Dec. 29, 2017
Yards of Faith, MIT Rotch Architectural Library, Cambridge, MA, April 5 – May 2, 2016
Group Shows
2021
Soho Photo Gallery’s 16th Intl Alt Processes Competition, Soho Gallery, New York, NY.
Image Flow Gallery, 5th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, Mill Valley, CA.
Botanical, Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, VT.
2020
Somerville Toy Camera Festival, Somerville, MA.
Juror: Bill Franson
Online Exhibition 26th Juried Show, Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA.
Corona: It’s All About the Light, Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA.
Primary Source, Griffin Museum Satellite Gallery-Lafayette City Center Passageway, Boston MA.
2019
Rockport Art Association and Museum National 2019, Rockport, MA. Excellence in Photography Award
Annual Open Arts Juried Exhibition 2019, Amazing Things Arts Center, Framingham, MA.
In God We Trust: Reflections of Religion in America, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI.
Somerville Toy Camera Festival, Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, MA.
2018
Somerville Toy Camera Festival, Washington St. Gallery, Somerville, MA.
Personal Perspective, Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT.
2017
The Curated Fridge Winter 2017, Somerville, MA- curator Elin Spring
2016
Danforth Art Annual: 2016 Juried Exhibition, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA.
2016 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge MA. Juror: Paul Ha
2016 Annual Contemporary Art Survey (ACAS), Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia, Fort Collins, CO.
Sacred and Liturgical Art 2016, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL.
The Fine Art of Photography – 2016, Plymouth Center for the Arts, Plymouth, MA.
Photowork 2016, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY.
Juror: Karen Irvine
Atelier 23, Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA.
Blue, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA.
2015
Reclamation II: Emerging Female Artists, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA,
14th National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association: Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA.
Bibliography
The Hand Magazine, Issue #30, November 2020, pg. 42
The Hand Magazine, Issue #29, July 2020, pg. 22
The Hand Magazine, Issue 25, July 2019, pg. 35
PRINTWORKS print sales newsletter- July issue, 2019
