CPC Small Print Show: Alex Chitty

This blog is part of a series of interviews of participating artists / printmakers in the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative Small Print Show.

Alex Chitty. Winterkleed. 2008.
Etching, spit bite, white ground, and collage.

Majoring in biology, art and education in college, Alex Chitty worked professionally as a marine biologist and botanist until 2006. Going back to school to earn an MFA in Printmedia, she claims she is "nerdy" about printmaking and focuses on the techniques of intaglio etching, woodblock, and screenprinting. Given her background, her work generally involves some aspect of science or natural history. In addition to creating her own prints, she teaches printmaking at Moraine Valley Community College, draws, does art installations, refinishes furniture, and plays in a rock band.

Alex Chitty. Nest. 2008.
Etching and aquatint.

Alex Chitty. Interstate 80. 2008.
Photo etching.

"In an ongoing inquiry into our varied and increasingly ridiculous relationship with nature and each other, I work to simultaneously represent, contest, and invert the world around us.

"Doggedly arranging bits and pieces in a clawing attempt to decipher the whole I appropriate fragments from a collective awareness and restructure them into drawings, installations and objects that challenge our interpretive faculties.

"I pack a lot in but land just short of giving up enough information to crack the case."

Alex Chitty. Deer Hoof. 2008.
Multiplate color etching.

Her recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Art of Democracy, traveling show, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, ongoing; Group show, Lloyd Dobler Gallery, Chicago, 2009; Umwelt, solo exhibition, ATC Gallery, Chicago; Nippon Steel USA 2008, Nippon Steel, Chicago; Book Art Exchange Exhibition, Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art, Seoul, Korea, 2008; OOMPH, solo exhibition, Dusty Groove America, Chicago, 2007; Bizarre and One of One, Spudnik Press, Chicago, 2007; Bird x Bird, Northrup King Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, 2007; Proof, Gallery X, SAIC, Chicago, 2007; Collusions, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, 2007; Wide and Wooly, Zea Mays Printmaking, Florence, MA, 2006.

Alex Chitty. Chicago Winter. 2008.
Etching with watercolor.

For more information on Alex and her art, go to http://alexchitty.com/