Creators on Creating: Sally Chapman

"Bacchus" by Sally Chapman

"Cosmic Signal !" by Sally Chapman

"Wave" by Sally Chapman

---

Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?

I remember one of my first days at college and walking through the art department as I explored the campus. I immediately knew that I wanted to include art classes in my schedule, which had been pretty academically oriented before that. I did end up majoring in art. My main discipline at the time was ceramics with photography as a minor.
​
After graduation I sought out a community with a strong ceramic community and ended up in Boulder, Colorado, where Betty Woodman was a major force. Overtime I set up my own studio and built a kiln. For twenty years this was my pursuit. Eventually, I became dissatisfied with my own self-focus on becoming a “famous artist.” I was on a big ego trip and the art world had ceased to be fun. I stopped doing exhibition type work and developed a line of light fixtures, which was a production line. Eventually, I closed the studio and moved to the Boston area where I had friends, but was not doing any creative work.

How did you get into making artists' books? 

Around 2010, I started to see images in the night that I wanted to capture photographically. I signed up for a class at the New England School of Photography (NESOP) in night photography. At the time I was working at MIT and one of the labs that I worked for had a digital camera that wasn’t being used. I had permission to use the camera and that set me off on my photographic journey. In that endeavor I continued to take classes at NESOP for technical expertise, and for more expressive guidance, I enrolled in the Atelier program at the Griffin Museum.

Eventually, I discovered the cyanotype process and I’ve been working with that for a number of years. I have a series called Mythic Nature which has been widely exhibited including a solo show in NYC. There’s about 25 pieces in the series. I knew that was coming to an end because I kept having the impulse to return to three-dimensional work. I didn’t know what that would look like but I started to fold my out-takes. I was inspired by Diana Bloomfield’s cyanotype books and went about finding my own way through YouTube videos and other websites. Eventually, I took a couple of workshops at Mass Art to learn some real techniques. Both teachers that I worked with are members of New England Book Artists and recommended the organization.

How do project ideas come to you and develop? Does content often shape form? 

My bookmaking work evolves out of my photography. I am mainly interested in materiality and I don’t include text in my pieces. I look to see how I can push the materials and do something unexpected. I feel blessed that I have the freedom to continue to experiment and explore different materials and formats.

Congratulations on your many exhibitions! Having attended one recently, I can attest you have impeccable taste when it comes to framing and presentation, not to mention the gorgeous work itself. How do you balance artmaking with the business of being an artist such as managing submissions? 

I want my work to be seen so keeping track of upcoming shows and submissions is just part of the process. I also love seeing how other artists are working. We are in a time where there are so many artists working at all different levels in so many different mediums. 

Who are some of the artists, book artists or otherwise, you hold most dear?

Currently, I am working with the pop-up book form. I was lucky to have the opportunity to study with Colette Fu at Haystack last summer.  Her work is absolutely jaw-dropping and she is also a photographer. Other pop-up artists that I follow are Simon Arizpe, Matthew Reinhart and Peter Dahmen. But I love so many different kinds of art and we are so lucky to have such a great variety of galleries and museums here in New England.

Do you have a favorite medium or materials to work with?

Currently I am working with my cyanotype scraps but a year ago I was working with encaustic medium. I am lucky to have the space to play with different materials as suits my fancy. We’ll see what comes into focus in the time to come.

How has the New England Book Artists (NEBA) helped nurture your practice? 

It’s been great to be part of NEBA. I love the visits to the different artist book collections. And there is so much to learn from the other members. There is so much talent in the group.

How has living in Lowell helped support your practice as an artist? 

I moved to Lowell in 2019 and I have found that it is a very welcoming community. There is a large community of artists here and it’s very easy to get involved in different projects. Beyond art projects I am also involved with the Bike Connector that collects and refurbishes used bikes and provides them to kids and anyone who wants a bike. Also the Litter Krewe is a wonderful group of folks focusing on beautifying the city and a very civic-minded group of people participating including a state senator and state rep. 

What do you hope readers will take away from your artwork? Do you have an overarching aesthetic, artist statement, or ethos? 

I hope that my work brings a smile to the face of the onlooker. I am fascinated by what I see around me. One recurrent theme is statuary, from saints and Virgin Marys in the yards of the faithful, to the monuments in the public square. When you focus on something, people realize that they have passed it by without noticing. I often hear personal stories from people as they see my work.

Do you have any advice for aspiring book artists? 
​
I would just encourage the aspiring artist to throw themselves into whatever they are interested in. Learn everything that you can and when your work doesn't come out as you wanted, see what did work and expand on that.

---

Visit Sally's Website

Read More Interviews

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.