About Molly Chapin:

As far back as I can remem­ber, I wanted to be an artist. The days we had art class in elementary school were the highlight of my week, and as soon as I stepped foot in that room the rest of the world would fall away as I focused on perfecting the details of each project. I then started taking art classes outside of school, needing to find fur­ther outlets to satiate the itch to create. Ever since, art has existed as an avenue for ex­pression and escape for me. It allows me to process the world through a lens that is just my own, without outside influence or agenda.

I paint with acrylic paint, and I prefer to mix all of my own colors. Each time I load up my pallet, I start with only red, blue, yellow, and white. I think this strategy brings more dimension to each piece I cre­ate. It forces me to spend qual­ity time with every square inch of the canvas, color matching and truly examining the val­ues of each shadow, the tones and hues of every fold of fabric or glint of light. I begin each painting with a rough under­painting sketch, blocking in large shapes and placement without executing any fine de­tail or being too exacting with form and proportion. This means that as I work, I con­stantly readjust and realign my subject matter. Each thing I paint lives, grows, and morphs before it reaches its final form. I think in a way, this makes the paintings feel more real. It im­bues each of them with a small portion of the human experi­ence we all grapple with daily; the discomfort and necessity of constant growth and change.

As a whole, I think that’s what my art is really about. Trying to navigate and survive the complexities of human ex­istence both through the cre­ative process and in the feel­ing of each finished product. I hope that anyone who spends time with my art can take some small piece of that catharsis with them.

You can find more of my work on Instagram, @molly­chapinart.