Explosion of Amphibian Deformities
Artist
Kate Cheney Chappell
(b. 1945)
Date2006
MediumMonotype, graphite
Dimensions21 × 11 in. (53.3 × 27.9 cm)
ClassificationsIntaglio
Credit LineGift the Artist
Terms
Object number2008.12
DescriptionThis monotype was exhibited in Chappell's exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art in 2008 and given to the Museum that year. Another print in the exhibition was titled "Breath Inside the Breath". Breath seems particularly pertinent to all the artist's work, as forms merge nebulously, dependent on the expansion and contraction of colors, the overlay of color on line, and the regular yet never rigid application of brushstrokes. The environment created on the print surface is an undefined site of ethereal matter-as one might imagine the breath of life. Specific forms, animal or mineral in nature and the subjects of the artist's interests at that time, float in this womblike atmosphere. In 2006 she was particularly concerned with threats that face the earth's environment-"the loss of many species that contribute to this fragile web we call life."(2) Frogs are, indeed, threatened. They are not only diminishing in quantity but are developing debilitating mutations throughout the world. The three frogs illustrated in Chappell's print present multiple legs, a deformity thought to be caused by a tiny trematode parasite that depends on snails for reproduction. Snail populations may be increasing as a result of fertilizer runoff and cattle manure, a problematic human intervention into the earth's ecosystem.(3)
The mutants move up through a chute in space toward a hovering egg-shaped form that contains frogs whose semi-visible forms are larger, fuller, and seemingly healthier. They appear to be returning to the womb for healing. This work is Chappell's offering, the instincts of a mother, to the earth in need of physical and spiritual restoration.
S.B.
NOTES:
2. Kate Cheney Chappell, "Gallery Talk for NEW/NOW," "Kate Chappell Art Space", http://www.katechappellartspace.com/nbmaa.html (accessed July 27, 2010).
3. David Smith, "Scientists Hone in on Causes of Amphibian Deformities," "Oregon State University New and Communication Services",
http://oregonstate,edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2003/Jan03/explain.htm (accessed August 28, 2010).
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