STATEMENT.HTML CHANTELLE ALLEN

home chantelle allen artist statement i was born in humansdorp south africa a small village where the indian and the atlantic oceans meet my immediate family immigrated to north america in 1998 coming from small farm towns i appreciate and feel most comfortable in a rural setting the classic americana has always intrigued me and is evident in my use of vintage subject matter my work uses traditional american images in a contemporary manner i start out taking photographs of vintage cars in junk yards and diner scenes i process these images in the dark room and create a coffee stained aged effect the film strip is visible on the print just as it is on some of the paintings this creates an illusion of a snapshot or moment in time that once was but never can be again i sketch out the scene in charcoal first and then i leave parts of the drawing showing through the paint this adds a layer of grittiness to the images there is a play of opposites such as beauty and ugliness in my work through the use of perfect american dream images with a satire of decaying nature the figure appears in my work in intimate scenes that reflect the character of the specific individual the happy housewife or american couple with some hint of grunge grease or rust that reminds us that nothing lasts forever it is a perfect dream but a greasy messy reality copy chantelle allen