Today we’d like to introduce you to Galen Cheney. She and her team share her story with us below.
Please kick things off for us with some background on Galen’s story.
Galen Cheney is a painter’s painter. Her education as a painter began at Mount Holyoke College and continued at The Maryland Institute, College of Art, where she was mentored and critiqued by Sal Scarpitta and Grace Hartigan (among others) and mostly left to teach herself how to paint. Twenty-five years later, she continues to push herself and her work with honesty, commitment, and fearlessness. Deep diving into her own creative process, Cheney is a physical artist whose richly layered paintings embody her curiosity about and exploration of materials and her own psyche. She was born in Los Angeles though has spent most of her life in New England where she feels a deep connection to the land and centuries-old architecture. A childhood trip to Europe was the start of her enduring love of travel and fascination with ancient civilizations. Cheney’s work has been exhibited in the U.S., Canada, Italy, and China, and recent recognition includes fellowships from the Millay Colony, Vermont Studio Center, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Da Wang Culture Highland, and a nomination for a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in Painting. Her home and studio are in North Adams, Massachusetts.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a painter, an abstract painter, mostly. There is much in my work that is unknown to me and I am okay with that. In fact, it is the very mystery of creativity that I find so compelling. I want to inhabit that place where my best paintings come from. It is a state of mind, an openness, a deep place of vulnerability, free of judgment and expectations.
When people look at my work, I want them to feel like they are looking at something that they haven’t seen before, something honest. Ideally my work will startle people a little bit. There’s nothing shocking about my paintings, but I hope for them to be compelling, captivating, thought-provoking. I want them to see that they were made by hand. The process is right out in front, the accumulation and layering of materials, past paintings, building them up, ripping them apart, joining them back together in unexpected ways.
I am inspired by other painters–past and present–, graffiti, ancient civilizations, urban energy, and whatever materials I am working with. The act of creating something new, surprising myself is a huge inspiration.
The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
First of all, if you really are an artist, nothing is going to keep you from being an artist. You will find a way to make art even if it’s as simple as putting a pencil to paper. If you are in it for the money, forget it. That said, there are ways to make money as an artist. So much of it is about building relationships with people over time. I often work with art consultants and art dealers who, in addition to selling originals, will pay me to license images of paintings for them to make prints of. There are also many online platforms for selling originals and prints such as Saatchi Art. The competition for galleries is tough, but there are many opportunities to get your work seen online or in pop-up shows that artists can put together for themselves.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work can be seen in Boston at Edgewater Gallery in the Boston Design Center. I will be in a show later this summer at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, at the TW Wood Art Gallery in Montpelier, VT this fall, and I’m having a solo show this December at Real Eyes Gallery in Adams MA. In 2020 I am looking forward to a show at the Haggarty Gallery at the University of Dallas and a second residency in China.
There are a few ways people can support my work. I have drawings and paintings available for any budget, and sales are the number one way to keep living artists afloat. Exhibitions are also important, so getting my work in front of curators is key. The third thing is reviews and media exposure such as offered by Boston Voyager.
Anyone interested in my work, studio practice, and shows can follow me on Instagram – galenwcheney. They can contact me through that site or through my website, www.galencheney.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.galencheney.com
- Email: galencheney@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/galenwcheney/
Image Credit:
Studio shot by Matt Hogan
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