Sunny Chapman

Spirit of Place presents the work of Alex Buchanan, Sunny Chapman, R. A. Friedman, Kathleen Moroney, Chris Page, and Mindy Veissid, artists who gently evoke a personal sense of the emotional history contained within a landscape or natural phenomenon. Their respective art works tell us more about the psychic energy and mood of a place than provide a description of an iconic or recognizable locale. The selected artworks provide the viewer insights into how the depicted place or view of nature makes the artist feel just as much as it tells us what it looks like to them. These artistic artifacts reveal facets of the artist's interior life and also carry something of the collective unconscious.

Sunny Chapman

Artist Bio
Sunny Chapman

Sunny Chapman retired from performing as a singer, & dancer, designing jewelry for stores like Barneys and Saks, activism and making documentaries to make art, a little jewelry and occasional poetry in Brooklyn and the Catskills. She was a street artist whose character Flower Face was published in the book Brooklyn Street Art. She resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and The Catskills. Chapman's studio art has been widely shown in galleries largely in the Northeast, was recently featured in the Curina Co. booth at the New Art Dealers Alliance Fair. Her art and poetry are published in books as well, her documentaries about Crisis Pregnancy Centers are distributed by The Cinema Guild and she is also the curator of the Birdhouse, an art salon in Williamsburg.
Artist Statement
Artist Statement

My artwork is deeply influenced by mystical practices like Sufism and Alchemy. The themes that emerge from these practices include doorways as portals to other universes, mysterious languages, and circles that symbolize the whirling of the dervish and the universe. Birds hold a special significance as they represent the link between heaven and earth, bridging the past and the present.

Throughout my life, I've been obsessed with shape and color, and this passion is particularly evident in my current body of work, titled Shapeshifters. These works are crafted from plywood, typically cut into biomorphic shapes and then collaged and painted in bright colors. The painting style is influenced by the 1970s pattern and decoration movement, and often incorporates repeated motifs. Additionally, I'm working on a series of larger shaped wood pieces in shades of black. My connection to the natural world is strong, and I often find myself walking in the woods or near water. During these journeys, I collect stones, bits of wood, shells, bones, and natural fragments, which I incorporate into my larger black pieces. Drawings and paintings emerge from these walks as well.
February_8x11_Sunny Chapman_2023

Sunny Chapman
February, 2024
Watercolor

Mountain Dusk_16x20_Sunny Chapman_2019

Sunny Chapman
Mountain Dusk, 2019
Watercolor
16" x 20"

Peas Eddy November_8x11_Sunny Chapman_2023

Sunny Chapman
Peas Eddy November, 2023
Watercolor
8" x 11"

View the rest of this artist's work in-person at the New Bedford Art Museum.