ARTIST STATEMENT
Harthan is devoted to surface manipulation and objecthood through painting, quilting, and a combination of the two. In her paintings, she makes intuitive materials unfamiliar while invoking quiet spaces and menial tasks. In quilting, she uses thread not only for material binding but also as a drawing and painting tool. Fabric is transformed from a ready-made surface into an underpainting, and by painting her quilts, separated mediums become further unified. She repurposes her clothes into her work, which creates a material mirror. The quilts are a personal and historical archive, as she utilizes photographs from childhood to reclaim a disconnected sense of girlhood and reconfigures them through the lens of uneasy womanhood. She sees her sewing machine as a partner instead of a tool, and through a tactile connection, she becomes part of a wider history of women’s domestic work.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chloe Harthan is located in Chicago, IL. She is currently a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been exhibited in group shows in Chicago, New York City, and San Antonio. Much of her work relates to growing up in Texas, and the influence of Southern American domestic folk arts and handcraft traditions.
© Chloe Harthan