Living my best life
I am a mom, wife, sister, daughter, artist, friend, designer, educator, entrepreneur, and “Jill of all trades.”
STACEY R. CHINN (now CHINN-HART) (Lexington, KY) is a visual fine artist, designer, entrepreneur, educator, and “Jill of all trades.” She earned her MFA degree at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (1998) and her BFA from the University of Kentucky (1994). Her creativity, exceptional aesthetics, aptitude as a maker, and professionalism are but a few of her talents. Whether sculpture, painting, pottery, jewelry, or design, Chinn’s work speaks of sophistication, refined simplicity, and an authentic, inspired vision.
Her prolific body of artistic work includes an extensive list of local, regional, and national group and solo exhibitions and a number of exhibition catalogs and publications. She has been featured in Sculpture and FiberArts magazines and the ArtNow Gallery Guide (Chicago/Midwest). While working in the studio, Chinn has delighted in being a mentor, curator, gallery director, panelist, public speaker, juror, board member, and teacher. She has enjoyed previous appointments as adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky, Georgetown College, Eastern Kentucky University, and Bluegrass Community & Technical College. Previously, she owned MADEky, a working studio and retail gallery in Lexington’s Historic Distillery District. She has taught at the Community Arts Center in Danville, KY, The Living Arts & Science Center, and Redwood Cooperative School. Along with being a professional fine artist, she held appointments as a graphic designer at Florida Tile and Big Ass Fans. Chinn now works as a graphic designer on a freelance basis while designing and creating her brand of functional ceramics and contemporary jewelry, Lil Crow.
Artist Statement
My artwork grounds me in this world. It is how I engage with the people, places, and things surrounding me. “Creativity… is the encounter of the intensely conscious human being with his or her world.” (May, R. The Courage to Create, 1975.) Being receptive, reflective, and willing to reinterpret my experiences requires an unending commitment. It is a way for me to make sense of my world and, dare I say, to also be a voice that propels society and validates the time in which I live. “Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” (Joyce, J. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.)
My works meld materials, techniques, ideas, and associations. I prefer being a “Jill of all trades,” practiced in a variety of media rather than exacting in a select few. For me, exploring the infinite possibilities such a diversity affords leads to a more compelling and challenging experience in the studio. By mingling conventional approaches to sculpture and painting (often blurring the lines between the two) with man-made, found objects, I invite viewers to reconsider their own assumptions about how and from what art should be made.
