|
|
|
Who says you can’t be both artistically and athletically inclined? For Ivy Chapin, a 2006 Fort Osage High School graduate who played as a midfielder for the Park University Pirates soccer team, both talents are a reality, given that she graduated last fall with a bachelor’s degree in fine art. A small collection of Chapin’s work, which includes a portrait of her boyfriend, Brandan, is now on exhibit through Jan. 28 at Park University’s Campanella Art Gallery inside the McAfee Memorial Library, 8700 N.W. River Park Drive, in Parkville, Mo. Call 816-584-6285 for more information on gallery hours. Admission is free.
A gallery reception will take place for Chapin from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Earlier this week, Chapin, 23, sat down to discuss her artwork, her soccer plans now that college has ended and her career aspirations that range from a flight attendant to astronomy.
| How and when did your passion for art develop? |
I actually didn’t know that I liked art until I went to Park University because I went there to play soccer. I was just jumping around from major to major. (Chapin started academic majors in subjects like psychology, interior design, graphic design and education before settling on fine art.) I realized I liked art a lot. I just didn’t think it was something I’d do. |
| What are your earliest memories of making art? |
There are a lot of artists in my family, and I don’t think I’m as good as they are. (Laughter) I guess I just started liking it, and I was OK with liking it. My family just liked to sit around and draw... My grandpa worked at Hallmark (Cards) as an engraver. I have a cousin who has his own little company and makes T-shirts and works at the Metropolitan Community College. He’s really good; he used to design stuff for (Kansas City rapper) Tech N9ne. I would sit around the table and draw stuff with my dad – we would draw, like, grotesque people and the freakiest-looking people you could imagine. |
| Where do you gather inspiration for your artwork? |
For the portraits, I just drew people in my family or my boyfriend. I really don’t have any other deep, inner meanings – I just like that kind of subject matter. All of my drawings that are in my show are from my imagination. I just kind of did what I thought was really cool. I really enjoyed (making art), but it wasn’t something that I necessarily consider doing for the rest of my life. |
| As an artist, what role you do you believe art plays in all of our lives? |
When you’re making art, it’s a way of expressing yourself. When you view it, it gives you something to think about – it’s just subjective. |
| What are your career aspirations and goals from here on out? |
(Chapin is now living in Independence, working as a math tutor and as a baby sitter.) I can’t think of anything I’d like to do in art, actually. In my last semester, I had to take a science class with a lab. I ended up taking astronomy, and I ended up liking it a whole bunch. So, I kind of want to go to school again for it. I just thought I hated science, and then I took that and was like, “Oh my gosh. I love science.” (Laughter) |
| What did you like about astronomy compared to other science courses? |
I like that it’s kind of a big mystery, still. It’s really fun to observe stars and stuff at night. It’s just fascinating. |
| So, has that love for astronomy crossed over into your art at all? |
I was thinking about trying to do something like that, but I didn’t make any really new things this semester because I had a bunch that I was going to put in my show. I’d like to – it would be kind of cool. (Laughter) My boyfriend got me this really cool laser pointer for my birthday for astronomy. One thing I’m going to try is that I’ve always wanted to be a flight attendant. I just love being in planes. I don’t really know what you have to do to be one, though. |
| Do you still play soccer recreationally? |
Oh, yeah. I really don’t like outdoor soccer that much, but I play with my whole family in a coed league. We play all the time, as much as possible. A whole bunch of my friends play, and my boyfriend just started playing. I guess if there was ever a women’s indoor thing, I guess I’d try to do more. |
| Have you been to one of the Missouri Comets games yet? |
I haven’t yet. (Laughter). |
