ARTIST STATEMENT
In my interdisciplinary/conceptual practice, I explore narrative theory through photography, artists’ books, sculpture, embroidery, writing, and film. Narrative theory examines not only literary studies but also ideas from fields such as rhetoric, (socio)linguistics, philosophical ethics, social psychology, folklore, and gender theory to explore how narratives work both as kinds of texts and as strategies for navigating experience. By creating within different mediums, I excavate multiple facets of a research concept, considering it from different angles and points-of-view. The word that best describes my art approach: Rumination. Reading stories, according to psychological studies, improves the reader’s capacity for empathy and understanding. In my artistic practice, I want to give the viewers a visual narrative to navigate, interpret, and question. By investing in the stories and perspectives of others, we become more caring while also improving mental health.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chelsey Becker is an interdisciplinary artist. She was born in Phoenix, AZ, but grew up in Claremore, OK. After she initially struggled in school and had to repeat the second grade, she graduated as a valedictorian from Claremore High School in 2011. She attended the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, AR, on a full-ride academic scholarship. While in college, she was awarded grants to attend Frogman’s Print Workshop and Sotheby’s Institute of Art. In 2015, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with degrees in Art and Business Administration, making her a first-generation college graduate. After deciding to pursue a master’s degree in art, Chelsey took the Advanced Painting Intensive summer course at Columbia University in New York City to improve her skills and prepare a portfolio. In 2018, she began graduate school at SMFA at Tufts University in Boston, MA. During her time there, she received the Dean’s Research Grant, the Graduate Student Research competition grant, and an Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts scholarship. She received her MFA in Studio Art in 2020 amidst the pandemic. In 2021, was a recipient of a Tallgrass Artist Residency in Matfield Green, Kansas. She is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Art Foundations at Ball State University in Indiana. Through her creative practice, she seeks to create insight into empathy through Narrative Theory. In 2023, she was a recipient of a Wildacres Residency, a nonprofit in North Carolina dedicated to the betterment of human relations.
© Chelsey Becker