Greta Chapin-McGill

"The narrative of one’s art is a living document, evolving in phases.

My practice, without any conscious help from me pushes visions out of my soul that have lingered inside me for years. The most important lesson I have learned has been to let the art lead me. To get out of my own way.

I am drawn to artists ,past and present, male and female, whose sensibilities are able to look intimately at the society and politics of their time and the important role of women in the  preservation and conservation of the story. Artists who have a legacy of Black American art and feminism.  The meaning of feminism is having unparalleled physical strength to literally push humanity forward. Feminism silently and most profoundly influences my work.  Women are the species I know best. 

I am from the DMV.  I Studied the fundamentals of art at the Corcoran and Howard University.  I left Washington to live in New York City where I discovered art encompasses fashion, photography, music, architecture, design,  filmmaking and cooking. Leaving the United States opened a window of freedom and fantasy previously unknown to me.  Stopping first in Berlin and Paris I settled in Italia. I learned the language of the Renaissance. Following the stories of Baldwin and Baker… Walking runways in Paris, Rome and Berlin stopping in every museum, art gallery 

cathedral  Returning to the US I moved to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment.  I came to know the true identity and culture of America at Taos Pueblo.

This life journey is my influence. My work is abstractly real. The techniques are driven by classical art “isms” indigenous tribal art and a mysterious ancestral DNA. I spend time reading ,studying and collecting mentors to further my art.  My influences include, Wilfredo Lam, Picasso, Matisse, Leon Berkowitz, Alma Thomas and contemporary artists who converse with me about art, politics, and concepts of life,  Lillian Burwell, Oliver Lee Jackson, Akili Anderson, Michael Platt,  and Patricia Michaels. 

I am driven to tell the story of my time through the eyes of a Black American woman, a feminist and global citizen."

-Greta Chapin-McGill