“I just liked it,” said Chapman, who's been drawing since she was a child and making jewelry, paintings and other works ever since.
Chapman started out as a professional jewelry artist in the 70s, but gave it up to focus on other works when her design company was outsourced.
“It was really okay,” Chapman said. “I knew I just wanted to be making art.”
A native of Wisconsin, Chapman, 62, moved to Brooklyn in the early 80s, continuing to dabble in drawing, painting and collages as a way to satisfy her creativity.
During that time, Chapman also lent her skills to making eight films, designing posters for punk rock bands and raising her only daughter.
“I've done a lot,” Chapman admits.
As she prepares for her new exhibit, which opened on Thursday, Nov. 14, Chapman said, “the whole thing kind of came out of the blue. I don't really pursue shows much, and I haven't been in one in the last three years.”
The exhibit, titled “There Are Surely Other Worlds Than This,” will be a compilation of acrylic on canvas oil paintings and wood collages of chemically altered papers on canvas board. It runs through February 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Gallery Three at South Oxford Space in Fort Greene.
As for her admirers, Chapman said many describe her art as visionary. “I don't know,” said said. “I just create a world for myself (through art) where I feel more comfortable than I do in this one.”
For more information about Chapman's art, visit her website.