Congratulations to Chelsie Nicole Murfee for earning her place as a Finalist in the Boynes Emerging Artist Award 7th Edition!

Who are you?

I am an artist. I think. Whatever that means…

I do not recall a phase of my life when I was not drawing, even in my early childhood. As far back as I can remember, I was making a mark—drawing with french fries in my ketchup, carving out scenes in dried patches of dirt, or sketching in my math notes. Most of the time, I was in trouble for making a mess, and some things never change.

I am an avid nature lover with a background as a long-distance trail runner. I have two beautiful children, who are the greatest collaborative works of art I have ever had a hand in shaping.

My drawing process is slow and tedious. There are not enough hours in the day to put a pencil to everything that inspires me. I find spending extended time outside helps me understand which inspirations tug the most at my spirit and sort through which series I plan to fully develop on paper.

What inspired you to utilize mixed media drawing as a medium?

Drawing with mixed media was a natural evolution in my work as I searched for ways to broaden my range of dark tones.

I love drawing in black, as it combines all the colors into one. I spend considerable time drawing dark scales to understand them. Some dark marks feel warm and full of life, others break down into stunning ranges of grey neutrals and throw the light, while others, absorb it entirely leaving behind a flawless, buttery finish.

Through delicate blending, my technique gently marries together a full spectrum of warm and cool dark tones in a unity that all reads as one.

How would you describe your work?

I strive to preserve unscripted moments while quietly alluding to deeper truths.

My work is a gentle hybrid of drawing and painting. The brush blended work results from a meticulous layering of ink, graphite, or pastel.

I am constantly drawn to mundane beauty, and my journalistic style seeks to capture the spirit of the moment without altering the narrative. I have a deep conviction to keep my drawings an honest depiction of the story I seek to represent. For this reason, I shy away from posing or staging models and try to capture interactions as they naturally occur.

The finished work, with its rich depth of tonal values, evokes life-like qualities and invites the viewer to engage on an emotional level.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind "Cross the River"?

Cross the River is one of six pieces in the series, Standing in the Sun. The piece was inspired by a solo trip I took several years back to visit my dear friends in Kigali, Rwanda.

I was captivated by the landscape, the rolling hills rich with color, most terraced by hand for farming. I was deeply moved by the culture and the people I met during my travels. Rwanda is an inspiring country, with a strong and promising future, despite a dark history of genocide and war. We have so much to learn from them about forgiveness, unity, and reconciliation. 

My friends spent considerable time explaining that I was from a state “where one could see the sun touch the earth”—the flat lands of the Texas panhandle seemed inconceivable in the land of a thousand hills. 

I struggled to photograph the landscape and the new friends I met along the way in the harsh light of the midday sun. However, as I returned home, I fell in love with the sharp contrast and genuine quality of the imagery born from those impromptu interactions.

The unstaged images naturally possess a beauty and spirit about them deeper than any I could ever hope to script. The work in the series intensified a call to document life as it naturally unfolds. 

As I navigated drawing the sharp contrast of Cross the River, I could not help but think about the bright light of the sun. Whether we find our home in the prairie lands, where we can see the sun touch the earth, or we find ourselves nestled in a valley of hills, we are all standing underneath the same sun.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating "Cross the River"?

I struggled to replicate the full spectrum of light and dark tones in Cross the River and the other work in the Standing in the Sun series. Representing a full array of rich dark skin tones challenged me to seek new and innovative ways to expand my palate.

The sharp contrast, with rich dark edges bordering stark white regions of the work, required careful application. It also required significant effort to preserve the white areas of the paper and keep the dark edge from creeping into the light.

The large-scale work also presented technical challenges, and at 48 x 44 inches, I struggled to find (and flatten out) large paper strong enough to withstand my abrasive drawing process. I had to take innovative risks to keep the paper from buckling or wrinkling as I slowly built layers and tones.

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

I aspire to create work that celebrates beauty in its natural state. I hope my viewers engage with the work on a deep emotional level.

My newest series, Signposts, which began abruptly in 2020, focuses on repairing or rebuilding the paths ahead in these uncertain times. The entire series is relatively large, and most of the work is almost life-size. I hope the scale of the work holds my viewer’s gaze. I hope they feel the powerful weight of the imagery as they stand in front of the artwork.

This series inspires my audience to stop and honor those we have loved and lost in the pandemic and to give thanks for those who remain standing by their side. Each piece is so personal, and I want viewers to see themselves in the artwork, reflect on their crossroads, and contemplate their paths ahead.

Have you experimented with other mediums?

Because my journey as an artist has been a lifelong pursuit, I have experimented considerably with other mediums, though my first love was graphite drawing.

In college, I was seriously interested in clay. My early work included multiple series of delicate relief carvings and hand build vessels. I also spent time oil painting, though the medium was challenging for me to navigate back when my studio was housed inside my home and my children were younger.

Secretly, I am a bit of a nerd, and I love to write. I carry a few handmade journals and fill them with illustrations drawn in whatever materials I have on hand. I quietly play with color in those journals, filled with watercolor, water-soluble graphite, and ink. I am embarrassed to say whatever is around me becomes a medium, sometimes even my coffee or tea. Though I am slow to incorporate new mediums into my more serious work, this free exploration does infiltrate my work to some degree.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

I constantly push boundaries in my work, and failure is often painfully integral to the process. Creating highly representational work is tedious, requiring hundreds of hours in a single piece of art. The highs and lows of the daily pursuit are psychologically taxing, and I become deeply connected to my work. When a drawing fails, or I need to abandon a work, it is intensely emotional.

I have learned to give myself permission to grieve, but still offer myself grace. I celebrate the lessons learned through failure in the studio and the bravery it takes to continue to create.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

There are certain things I am proud of, like winning awards from museums, or having work included in important exhibitions, or having drawings find a permanent home in a significant collection. While I do celebrate those successes, it is a rare thing for a visual artist to hear applause and witness people responding to the work.

It is gentler on my spirit to define success in non-conventional ways. I am genuinely moved when I see my students achieve growth in their work, when I make powerful connections with people in the studio, or when I step back after several hundred hours and complete a large work of art.

Though history may define my success differently, I am blessed to go to work every day and put a pencil to the inspirations that tug at my heart. That, to me, is success.

What projects are you working on currently?

As 2022 drew to a close, I was nearing the completion of an intricate portrait I had worked on for many weeks. Simultaneously, I am processing imagery for the final works in my Signpost series and developing work on a new portrait series dealing with grief.

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I have this grand vision of creating a large body of life-size work that tours the country. It feels hypothetical at this stage in my career.

Creating a showcase of this magnitude would require multiple years of labor and funding. I have walked towards this goal with no avail, as I find it challenging to keep the pieces together as they slowly land in permanent collections. Instead of holding the works, I find I must invest the proceeds from the sold work to continue developing the series further.

Still, I am thankful I can see series stand together digitally.

As a finalist, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

Awards and competitions are excellent ways to gain exposure, increase the value of your work, and obtain new collectors. Stay organized with a calendar of important deadlines and document your artwork with professional-quality photos.

Be selective about opportunities and be careful to avoid becoming so consumed with the circuit of recognition that you forget the reason you create or allow it to pull from your studio time. Also, understand rejection is a part of the process. If your work is not recognized, celebrate your bravery for applying, dust yourself off, and keep creating.

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists/photographers, what is your advice?

If you have a sensitive spirit, there is no shame in being private about your work as it develops. Though there is a perception in current culture that we must publicly share every moment, I find my best work comes from within me during periods of intense solitude. Be purposeful about guarding your studio time. It is easy to convince yourself that marketing, advertising, accounting, teaching, or even organizing your creative space count as studio time. While those tasks are essential, it is crucial to protect the time you spend creating.

To view more of Chelsie Nicole Murfee’s work

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