TRANSLATIONS: HEATHER CHONTOS, CAROLINE DENERVAUD, EMMA LARSSON

Oftentimes we must translate our own experiences to ourselves, making them lucid or palatable, and the artist takes this one step further by creating visual transformations for us to understand and connect with them. Grace Hartigan once remarked, "Somehow, in painting I try to make some logic out of the world that has been given to me in chaos". A famed American abstract painter, Hartigan balked at the idea of any limitations to her expression. She drew from the richness of her everyday life, even when it was a struggle, and translated it directly to canvas. The women in this exhibition follow in her footsteps as bold interpreters of the abundant inspiration life offers us. All are abstract painters as well, a departure from realism that in and of itself demands a level of translation: from the literal to the figurative, from both the creator and the viewer.  

Each artist has her unique character and culture, but the trio share a sincere desire to express themselves through their work organically. The women listen to their intuition as they work, allowing their minds and bodies the freedom to speak, and be heard, without boundary. None burden themselves with ideas of how they should or should not create; they simply trust that their work will speak. 

Chontos draws on the dynamic nature of different materials to discover what is hidden and waiting to be drawn forth. Using various mediums and spaces to work on allows multiple languages to emerge. The ever changing process allows endless discovery that the viewer gets to indulge in with her. 

Denervaud's love of dance is essential to her creation; her fluid movements across canvas on the floor create the framework for the painting. Deep hues weave into the energy of the lines, embracing and emboldening them. As she works, she tunes out her conscious thought to allow her body to reveal what it has been absorbing. 

Larsson employs a continuous dialogue with color in her work that layers upon itself and creates new pathways to explore as it deepens and takes on new life. Thick paint nurtures messages that linger below it, conversations with pigment that playfully lead her to a finished creation. The multitudes in her work are translations across time, and across the barrier between an inner life and outward expression. 

As between languages, a "word for word" interpretation is never quite possible, but it is these subtle changes across mediums that creates something beautiful. Each work featured in Translations carries a message that has been laid bare in vivid color for the viewer to put into their own tongue. 

- Kellie Marwaha

Heather Chontos

Heather Chontos was born in Tarrytown, New York in 1978. The daughter of a carpenter and antique collector, her fascination with the value and meaning imbued into objects started from an early age. The value of working with one’s hands, enabling her to deepen her relationship with the physical world, whether by restoration or construction. These early influences ultimately became a major driving force behind her academic and professional focus, studying art conservation and gaining experience in illustration, set design, prop making and product styling. Her entire artistic approach is holistic, driven by the motivation to reflect her personal experience both internally and of the world around her. She builds upon each foundational stroke of paint without precognition, entwining each medium until they have come together to display an abstracted yet diaristic snapshot of the artist’s life. As an artist, Chontos' work has taken her all over the world, from her first solo show in the UK, to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin, Italy where she was the artist-in-residence at Palazzo Monti, Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in Bazaar, British Vogue, Côté Sud and other publications. Most recently, her journey has taken her to Portugal where she currently lives and works. 

Caroline Denervaud

Caroline Denervaud (b. 1978, Lausanne, Switzerland) lives and works in Paris. A dancer by training, she studied Contemporary Dance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and later studied at l’École des Beaux-Arts and Studio Berçot in Paris. Dancing was Denervaud’s passion, her first way to express herself. Her body is the best creative tool. She began to move (dance) on large-sized papers and record the movements on video.  She adds ink, charcoal and/or black paint to make the trace visible so it could be visually remembered. The pronounced lines with an organic softness mimic the natural curves and motions of her body. Color came later. The process of her work is just as much the art as is the finished work. Her work is part of prominent art collections throughout Europe and America. Over the years, she's had numerous solo and group exhibitions. She has participated in multiple art fairs in France, England and the US. In November of 2022, she had her first solo exhibition in the US with Simard Bilodeau Contemporary in Los Angeles. Denevaud participated in a group exhibition in London with Marlborough Gallery in January of 2023. 

Emma Larsson