i.e. gallery is thrilled to have Drie Chapek return for her 4th solo exhibit with us. A dynamic artist who builds her paintings with large luscious swatches of thickly applied pigment interspersed with thinner washes of tranquility, she often leaves us standing on uneven ground. At times the subject is also of two worlds - an expressionistic abstract one and a glimmer of real space and objects. This is our world. She is in it with us and she is conveying that to us. In this way the uneven ground is recognizable and familiar to us. Since her debut exhibit here in 2018 her work has continued to expand, excite, and challenge with the masterfully painted surfaces and shape shifting images. Please join us.

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"I construct my painted environments with personal reminders of complexity, pain, pleasure and delight discovered within these worlds. Through the breath 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. 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."

Drie Chapek

May 2025