KRISTA CHALKLEY
ABOUT THE ARTIST
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Krista Chalkley (they/them, b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and arts administrator based in Dallas, TX. Krista received their BA in Visual and Performing Arts from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2018. Since then, their work has been exhibited at local venues such as Arts Fort Worth, Ro2 Art, and most notably at the AT&T Showcase gallery in the Discovery District alongside works by Andy Warhol, Kehinde Wiley, and others. In 2022, Krista was awarded the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund by the Dallas Museum of Art. In addition to being an artist, Krista has worked throughout their career to facilitate curation, public programming, and community building for several museums, galleries, and arts organizations in Dallas. Currently, they serve as the Assistant Director and Manager of Operations at Erin Cluley Gallery, and volunteer on committees benefitting the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas and the Emergency Artists’ Support League helping to provide various grants and opportunities to local artists.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
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From the plants sprouting out of the soil to the infinitely swelling cosmos, I revel in the fluidity and interconnection of all things. Thus, my artistic practice explores the queered boundary as it pertains to the expansive possibilities of our existence on an individual and collective level. Employing surrealist imagery and elements of the ethereal, I relate such expansiveness with the breadth of the natural and metaphysical worlds. Through symbols of spirituality and nature, my work draws connections between the sacredness of its subjects. Important to these connections is a sense of vitality, established by depictions of light, intertwined environments, and abstracted bodily forms. The method of presentation also plays a role in the manifestation of these themes, transforming a static object into one with intuitive presence through its installation. Intrinsic to its meaning is the materiality, vulnerable and adaptive, as it eludes the constraints of a single definition. Through my multidisciplinary practice, I journey into enchanting and almost-familiar realms to expand the idea of what queerness can encompass and explore how our limitations can be directly impacted by our perspective. Conjuring themes of fluidity and tenderness, my work becomes a love letter to nuance in my endeavor to embrace the unknown with a sense of humility and wonder.
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