artist statement
Jayme Chalmers is a portrait and mixed media artist based on Bowen Island, British Columbia. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Jayme has exhibited his art all around western Canada over the past 15 years, as well as in London during a residency there in 2013. Jayme studied fine art at the University of Alberta, receiving a BFA in Painting; and then completed his MFA in Painting at the University of Calgary in 2013 where he also published his thesis The Performative Portrait.
The exploration in my personal art practice is inventive from a material standpoint. My research focuses on the development of the modern portrait, with an emphasis on revealing the process and challenging how one views contemporary art, materials, meaning and routine.
I have shifted away from creating portraiture in the form of large, site-specific installations to smaller, more intimate sculptural portraits. Specifically, I now am focusing on sculpting portraits from books – not from blocks of steel, stone or wood but from blocks of paper and bindings. As with other sculptural media, material is removed, revealing the image in what remains. The portraits concentrate on notions of the ‘performative’ and the idea of expressing and changing how we feel through our actions. The medium of self-representation and material goods is symbolized in the portrait and paperback novel. By sanding into the book I further express time, erasure and life’s daily ‘stage’.
My works are informed by those of Marcel Duchamp, August Rodin and Damien Hirst. But I try to go beyond their radical visual insights by adding literary symbolism, portraiture and temporal fluidity. I am developing techniques –such as resin transfers, grinding into paper and printmaking on the edges of paper – which I never learned in art school.
EDUCATION:
MFA – Painting, 2013, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
BFA – Painting, 2006, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Fine Art Diploma, 2004, Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton, Alberta
New Media Certificate, 2000, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Edmonton, Alberta
PAST EXHIBITIONS:
2021 Ephemeral Horizons, Hearth Gallery @ Cove Commons, Bowen Island, BC
2020 Iterations, Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, BC
2020 Green Space, Ferry Building Gallery, West Vancouver, BC
2019 Positively Petite: 30th Annual Miniature Exhibition, Place des Arts, Coquitlam, BC
2019 International Artists' Day Anonymous Art Show, New Westminster, BC
2018 Sculptures from Books: A Portrait Exhibition, Roundhouse Arts Centre, Vancouver, BC
2016 Art Battle, Red Room Lounge, Vancouver, BC
2015 Wearable Art Awards, Port Moody Galleria, Port Moody, BC
2014 Ten Again, Gray Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2014 Summer Show, Cobalt Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2013 MFA Downtown, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2013 Convergence, Nickle Gallery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2013 Paradigm (Solo), 621 Gallery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2013 WIP Show, Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2013 Notes to Self, Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2012 Effervescence (Solo), Little Gallery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2012 Emanating Gaze (Solo), Wunder Gallery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2011 The Invisible Gaze, Little Gallery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2010 The Children of a Lesser God, Multicultural Centre Public Art Gallery, Stony Plain, Alberta
2009 Or What!?, The Artery, Edmonton, Alberta
2009 It’s All Relative, Prism Lounge, Edmonton, Alberta
2009 Continuance (Solo), Steppes Gallery East, Edmonton, Alberta
2006 Pirate, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
2004 27, Grant MacEwan University Arts Campus, Edmonton, Alberta
SELECTED CATALOGUES, ARTICLES & REVIEWS:
2021 Ludvig Book Publishers, “Exit,” Book of Contemporary Sculpture Art from 140 Artists Worldwide
2021 Hearth on Bowen, Artist Video and Talk
2021 Beairsto, Bronwyn, “Capturing Ephemeral Horizons”, Bowen Island Undercurrent Newspaper
2020 “Sculptures From Books” , Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Artist Video and Talk
2020 Jesperson, Rik, "Traditional Mixes With Edgy in GPAG Exhibits”, Coast Reporter Newspaper
2013 McCoy, Heath, “A Fruitful Exchange”
2012 Kingcott, Trisha, "Photo Research Wins"
2009 Fung, Amy, “Exhibition: Or What!?”
TEACHING:
2017 - 2018 Art Instructor, Young Rembrandts Art School, Vancouver, BC
2013 Teaching Assistant, Art 251 Media Arts, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2012 Teaching Assistant, Art 451.01 Painting, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2011 Teaching Assistant, Drawing 345, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2000-2001 New Media Instructor, Boyle Street High School, Edmonton, Alberta
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2011-2012 Model Booking Coordinator, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2009-2011 Assistant/Preparator, Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2007-2009 Freelance Portrait Artist, Edmonton, Alberta
2007 Painting Performance as Van Gogh at Dutch Heritage Festival, Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton, Alberta
2005 Live Mural Painter for Works Art & Design Festival, Edmonton, Alberta
2000-2001 Graphic & Web Designer, STS Communications, Edmonton, Alberta
GRANTS & AWARDS:
2013 Anne Severson Scholarship, University of Calgary
2013 Alberta Graduate Scholarship
2012 Royal College of Art Exchange Grant, University of Calgary
2012 1st Place Photo Competition, University of Calgary Grad Studies
2012 Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship, University of Calgary
2011-2012 and 2012-2013 FGS Scholarship
2011, 2012, and 2013 Teaching Assistantship, University of Calgary