A local artist, who has mastered the skills of shoji screens and scrolls, takes his craft to new heights. Morphing his skills and his interests in collage art has given Chris Wheeler, a chosen artist in the 33rd Annual Governor’s Art Show, creative freedom in ways other mediums never could. Wheeler sat down with us to share his artistic background that led him to being one of the only people in the US with the skills to restore works of art on paper and how finding his perfected art form has shaped his artistic expression.
What was the realization and process like for you when you were mastering shoji screens and scrolls while incorporating your interest in collage art?
For as long as I could remember I always wanted to be an artist, however, I couldn't find a medium that spoke to me. While I was in the studio stretching my wife's paintings onto scrolls and screens, I was seeing ideas in her scraps and trimmings. With what was available around me, I started texturing paper with her watercolors, and eventually acrylics, to achieve the striations and color variations that I was looking for. Using the materials and wheat paste that is traditionally used for scrolls and screens, I started laying down my first set of collages. The effect was a symphony of geometrics, texture, and color that alluded to a modern mid-century aesthetic. It was finally the unique art form that I was looking for.
What is it about this art form that made you connect to it?
I was not particularly drawn to the traditional mediums of drawing and painting. I felt that they were more reliant on technique and not in my belief that art is more about the idea. I felt limited in a sense that the traditional art forms were very two dimensional. I felt connected to this art form since I approach it as a combination of drawing, painting, and sculpting. The imagery comes from long-standing commitments to modernist conventions. The simplistic forms are an attempt to tap into the memories and ideas we all share. I’ve found my minimalist designs appeal to people on a primitive level.
How have your life experiences contributed to your own art journey, and to this ancient craft you’ve mastered and have made your own?
From early on as a college student at St Joseph's University in Philadelphia, I made frequent trips to the Philadelphia Museum. Shortly after, I was able to travel to Europe for months at a time. I spent most of my days in the art museums and galleries storing ideas and absorbing the creativity. At the age of 26, I had the opportunity to move to Seattle. I spent three years in the Northwest working various jobs and searching for my art form. I decided to move to Tainan, Taiwan to travel, teach ESL, and study art, specifically Chinese landscape painting and calligraphy. Since Tainan was the old cultural center of Taiwan, there was a thriving art community that I became involved in. My wife was studying ink and brush and we realized that we would need someone to mount her paintings when we returned to the United States. I apprenticed under master Huang for five years in the traditional method of stretching shoji screens, scrolls, and works on paper. It was in the studio that I found an art form that truly appealed to my creative side. With this skill I was able to stretch and manipulate paper in ways very few people can.
What did the selection process look like for you when choosing which pieces you wanted to showcase in the Colorado Governor’s Art Show?
Northern Colorado, unlike the density of the metro Denver area, consists more of wide vast space and a slower pace of living. I selected pieces that convey that sense of open space as well as views of the front range that I get to experience when I step outside of my front door. I moved to Fort Collins nine years ago for all those reasons and wanted to share that appreciation for this life that I have.
“It was in the studio that I found an art form that truly appealed to my creative side.” - Chris Wheeler