Honors Alumna Emily Chase's Paper Gown, Chandelier on Display

Emily Chase, Husk (detail), 2012. Burned rice paper, alcohol marker, thread, LED lights. Photo courtesy Emily Chase.

Chase’s work shimmers above the Honors College entrance to Gearhart Hall. Photo by Evan Jackson.

Fish circle the bottom of the cut paper drum chandelier. Photo courtesy Emily Chase.

Emily Chase, Wayfinding, 2015. Hand-cut paper over lampshade. Photo by Kendall Curlee.

Photo courtesy Emily Chase

Artist Emily Chase, an honors alumna of Fulbright College and former Honors College Fellow.

Over the course of 18 months, Emily Chase painted, cut, scraped, pricked and burned three exquisitely crafted, life-sized paper gowns that comprised her honors thesis. One of these works, Husk, a cascade of scorched and tattered paper frills, commands attention above the Honors College entrance to Gearhart Hall. Wayfinding, a cut paper drum chandelier, is installed in the second-story hall in front of the Honors College Deans' Suite.

The works on display are part of a series of illuminated paper sculptures created by Chase (B.F.A, summa cum laude, '13), an honors alumna of Fulbright College and former Honors College Fellow.

Historical costume and the rich visual language of fairytales inform the paper gowns, which lure and provoke the viewer with unexpected details. In Husk, inspired by the tale of Sleeping Beauty, a delicate tracery of blue veins/vines painted within is revealed when the gown is illuminated.

Encouraged by her faculty mentor, Kristin Musgnug, an associate professor of art, Chase mined the deeper themes embedded in the tales and her own emotional processes, as well.

"With Husk I was exploring my own experiences with exhaustion," she wrote in her artist's statement. "I drew heavily on the ways in which things break down and become brittle as they age."

Wayfinding presents a ship approaching a violent storm, with forked paper thunder and fish circling below, but clear weather is shown as well.

"The circular shape of the lamp allows a continuous narrative to be told," Chase wrote. "I like the idea that when things become difficult, there's clear sailing ahead."

This is the second exhibition of Chase's work to be displayed in the Honors College wing of Gearhart Hall.

"The idea that new students are coming in and seeing my work, that's pretty fun for me," Chase said. "It's cool to show people they can do both academics and creative work. In the Honors College I felt full support to do something really different."

"Emily's work has been installed just in time for Fellowship Weekend, when we welcome more than 150 of our top prospective students to campus," said Lynda Coon, Honors College dean. "We're delighted to highlight exceptional creative work by one of our former fellows."

Chase has been folding, sewing and sculpting paper for several years. She was the first University of Arkansas student to win a Windgate Fellowship, a $15,000 national award that annually recognizes 10 students with exemplary skill in craft. Her work has been included in several juried group exhibitions, including Pandora's Children (Clough-Hanson Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee) and Fashion as Art II (Gallery 66 NY, Cold Springs, New York). Chase was also featured in the solo exhibitions Quiet Ghosts (Lalaland Gallery, Fayetteville), Extrasensory Memory (Arsaga's at the Depot, Fayetteville) and This Fragile Armor (Living Arts Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma). Chase also completed two public art commissions from the City of Springdale. Her work is currently on display at 21C Museum Hotel in Bentonville.

In early March Chase will leave for a ten-week residency at St. Mary's College of Maryland, where she will lecture, critique student work and develop some new pieces.

"It's a symbiotic relationship," she said of this opportunity. "The artist gets space and time to work in a cool environment, and the school gets new blood, new input. Hopefully, we'll make new things happen."

Chase's work will be on display for several months. Honors students, faculty and alumni interested in exhibiting their work in Gearhart Hall are encouraged to contact Kendall Curlee at kcurlee@uark.edu. For more information visit honorscollege.uark.edu/portfolio.