Deborah Lulu Chapman's Amazing World of Prints

Deborah Lulu Chapman’s prints are a thing to behold. She has been posting her work periodically on Facebook where I first saw them, and I felt compelled to write and ask to see more. The first thing that grabs the viewer is how she manages to stun us with her exuberance for minutiae detail. Good Lord she loves detail! But that’s just the beginning.

Chapman creates a dark space where little creatures crawl over oddly shaped concrete surrounding metal beams. A crystal ball shows butterflies the way out of their dark environments through a passage in the concrete to a light-filled sky. She presents arcane references to bas-relief birds of stone contrasted with peacocks with their feathers blowing in the unseen wind. Silken fabric unfurls freely, or is pulled through the brick and concrete hollowed tunnels like a magician’s trick. ‘See the pretty bird come out of the brick’, so to speak.

In another piece, Chapman veils the bird walking a tightrope between a billowing chimney to an old oak tree. The illusion of a space is presented, but we feel the air is suffocating. These mixed impressions of a place of non-spatial environments twists our perceptions of reality. Can these places co-exist? They obviously do. It’s just what is happening to the bird, or us, that gets us wondering how it, we, will ever get out of these places.

There is something satisfying in the idea of these brick and concrete structures. They are solid and they have a compactness that is mesmerizing like looking at an alien space ship. The butterflies and birds are our clue to preserving some aspect of human/mother nature and our planet. The surrounding space is dark and fathomless, but we are nurtured by the warmth of it. It is not cold, is it primal. We are created, we live and we die. Chapman gives us life in transformation, remembrances of lives lived, and preservation of the seeds of life to come. They are odd images, but they spark our imagination and make us want to see much, much more.

Chapman originates from Argentine, and now lives in Montreal, Canada. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, residencies, and received countless awards. To see more of her work, contact her at dluluchapman@hotmail.com

ACADEMIC TRAINING

1998 ICARI (Institut de création artistique et de recherche en Infographie ) Diploma in Infography granted.
1990 Bachelor Degree in Plastic Arts, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

INTERNSHIPS

2014 Artist in residence, Guanlan, China.
2012 Artist in residence, studio Val-David, Val-David, Québec.
2008 Artist in residence, Studio Zocalo, Longeuil, Québec, contemporary digital arts
2007 Artist in residence, Sagamie center, contemporary digital arts.

AWARDS
2014 Mention of Honour IV Bienal de Grabado "Aguafuerte" 2014, Provincia de Valladolid, España.
2013 Second Prize XLIIº Salón de Tucumán 2013, Argentina
2013 Mention of Honour, XII International Imprinting Biennal “Josep de Ribera” Xàtiva
2013 "Mastery" Award Ural Print Triennial, Russia
2013 Mention of Jury XIV Salon Nacional de Dibujo y Grabado « Artemio Alisio » de Entre Rios, Argentina
2013 “Ramiro Carregal” Prize International ingraving Atlante, (mezzotinte) Spain
2013 First prize, First Garzapapel International Imprinting Contest, Spain
2012 First prize, ExLibris, Debrecen, Hungary
2011 Second Prize, Municipality of Santa Fé, 88 Salon Anual Nacional de Santa Fé, Argentina

Plus scads of other awards......