— Greta chapin-mcgill —

In Her Own Words

Several things influence my work. One of them is surrealist thought. This involves tapping into the unconscious mind to release the creativity that lives there. For me it is also a relatively close cousin of the dream paintings of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The interesting caveat is these are schools of thought happening and developing in independent areas of the world without any influence one to the other. Surrealist thought, surrealist writing and dream painting are all avenues I use to free my mind of barriers of conventional thought in painting, In mixing of color and in color placement. In effect it allows me to invent my own language. To be uninfluenced by anyone other than my own thoughts.Thus it is very significant for me to have anyone appreciate what I create, it means somehow they have read my thoughts, they have understood my language and appreciated my dreams.

[The series below] all come from covid isolation. I have thought of the writings of Paul Laurence Dunbar so much during this time. His poem We Wear The Mask, helped me many days to come to terms with the madness swirling about in this world. One of my ladies wears a mask in the shape of the United States of America, One masks herself but shows the one feature all women are addressing with abandon during these times, her eyes. The third piece is a true homage to wearing the mask. It speaks to Black Americans wearing the mask always.... in all eras of time here in this country since we arrived, it is the mask of survival.

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