Honors Alumna Emily Chase's Paper Works on Display in Ozark Hall

Emily Chase

Burn Out, the latest in a series of ethereal paper sculptures by Honors College alumna Emily Chase, is currently on display in Ozark Hall.

Stroll by Ozark Hall at night and you'll notice something unexpected: an ethereal paper gown, spattered with moths and illuminated from below, hovers in the oriel above the Honors College entrance. 

That work is Burn Out, the latest in a series of illuminated paper sculptures created by Emily Chase (B.F.A, summa cum laude, '13), an honors alumna of Fulbright College and former Honors College Fellow. Shelter, a paper quilt that buoys a flock of backlit birds, floats above the landing in front of the Honors College dean's suite.

"In both these works, light comes into play in an important way," Emily Chase wrote in her artist's statement. "Light transforms paper, and makes it almost magical."

Chase has been folding, sewing and sculpting paper for several years. Her works in paper have ranged from a flock of origami cranes that were installed in the Arkansas Union to three exquisitely crafted, life-sized paper gowns that comprised her honors thesis. She has continued to explore paper clothing in her latest work, in part because clothing is "a personal and expressive thing," and because the fragility of the paper undercuts the utility of these objects floating in space.

"Paper allows the garments to be seen from a different perspective, to examine the fragility and impermanence of the things we keep closest to our skin," Chase wrote. 

Shelter also embodies the personal in a sensory experience. Chase's grandmother, a prolific quilter, inspired this piece. "Throughout my childhood, my family uprooted and moved cross country several times," Chase recalled. "Her quilts are a safe place that I can fold up and bring with me wherever I go."

"We are delighted to exhibit thought-provoking work by such a talented young artist," said Lynda Coon, Honors College dean. "We're especially proud that Emily is an Honors College alumna, who is clearly making the most of the education that she received here."

Chase was the first University of Arkansas student to win a Windgate Fellowship, a national award funded by the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, which annually recognizes 10 students with exemplary skill in craft. Chase used her $15,000 award to study three-dimensional paper techniques at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C., and to travel to New York City and Japan. 

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 completed two public art commissions from the City of Springdale, and she has been awarded a residency at St. Mary's College of Maryland. 

Chase's work will be on display in Ozark Hall for several months.