Chick Byrne, Couched in Riddles, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 90” X 72”Chick Byrne, Couched in Riddles, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 90” X 72”Project Room No. 4: Chick Byrne
BCA Studio Resident Chick Byrne takes over the BCA Mills Gallery Project Room space. This is the fourth installation of our new Project Room Exhibition Series at the BCA Mills Gallery, which features work by BCA Studio Residency Artists, artists who have studios and are part of a three-year residency in our Artist Studios Building.
Chick Byrne, Untitled, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 51” X 72”
Chick Byrne, Couched in Riddles, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 90” X 72”
Chick Byrne, Rosie’s Blanket, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 36” X 50”
Chick Byrne, The Unfinished Horoscope, 2022, Mixed media on canvas, 47” X 72”
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Opening Reception
Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 6–9pm
During the combined public reception for both Project Room No.4: Chick Byrne and Cedric Harper: ANCESTRAL LANGUAGE | Curated by Carol Moses, we hope you’ll also take the opportunity to visit the BCA Artist Studios Building and see what BCA studio residents have been working on!
The BCA Artist Studios Building will be open from 5:30–8pm. Explore the four floors next door to the Mills Gallery meet the talented BCA studio residents who develop their art practices in the historic space. Since there has been some buzz about BCA’s newest space for movement artists, we also invite you to come see Studio 414 and chat with Andrea Blesso, Director of Dance & Interdisciplinary Arts at BCA!
Artist Statement
My work imagines the body outside of our three-dimensional paradigm. We exist as more than just a body with a mind, but as divine beings of energy and light. The links between each of us are multi-folding.
Canvases are unstretched and painted to the edge to emphasize an interwoven material reality that remains flexible. The works allow us to explore duality: being strong while being undefined, being vulnerable while unafraid. It recognizes that we are all infinitely complex and aims to inspire empathy when faced with different perspectives and our own internal contradictions.
The work I create is a portrayal of human connection and latent potential. It is a show of the beauty that exists within you, and a glimpse of the love that has been shown to me. It illustrates that trauma, fear and abuse are not defining traits, but rather informative elements that change us as we evolve and learn. The imagery argues that there is no distance or separation that exists beyond those which we insist on, or those that are forced upon us. Symbols, images and expressions are interpretations of the human body as energy seen from outside our perceived realities. The work speaks of hope; envisioning us as the manifestation of our own consciousness and a projection of the divine. Using techniques learned through the study of Pranic Energy Medicine, I cleanse, energize and bless each work.
—Chick Byrne, BCA Studio Resident 2022–2023