The Jealous Curator: Chelsea Dean
Chelsea Dean. Photos courtesy of the artist.
Ooooh! So many elements, all living together in beautifully composed harmony. This is the work of Los Angeles based artist Chelsea Dean. Here’s just a tiny list of some of the bits in these three pieces alone – hand-cut photographs, wood veneer, decorative paper, foam core, washi tape, mat board, found objects from abandoned homesteads – and that’s just the beginning.
Have a look at Chelsea’s artist statement:
“[My] work embodies systems that erode. I salvage history, suspending the architecture of Southern California in time with a process of carefully controlled chaos. By combining my photographs with experimental printmaking, drawing, and collage techniques, I elevate the conflict between order and entropy. My most recent body of work focuses around my fascination with abandoned Jackrabbit Homesteads in Wonder Valley where I continue to meditate upon the allure of beauty and decay. I gather and incorporate discarded elements from these spaces, assigning new meaning with the addition of gold elements and embellished patterns. I thoughtfully document and reconstruct these spaces by dimensionally layering information, offering the viewer a spatially rich experience that illuminates the original site.”
Okay, I have to say it again… ooooh!