chase images

Artist Bio

I have lived in the Comox Valley for the past 10 years with my husband Jamie and my son Ethan. Most of my time is taken up with my full-time job as a Creative Arts/Writing teacher at Mark Isfeld Secondary school in Courtenay. Recently, I completed a Master’s degree in Education with a thesis focus on Creativity. This experience allowed me to take the next step in my creative process and use my photography to explore my own inner creative journey. Through this experience, I came to realize that we all have talent within. We need to let go of the fear of not being good enough and to express our individual creativity. I have just begun to exhibit my work and I have been part of the most recent Pearl Ellis Gallery member’s show.

Artistic Process

I have been working in the medium of photographic manipulation for over 7 years. I am self-taught in this process, learning mostly from trial and error. The process used to create these artistic photographs is a unique one. The photos are shot with an old 1970’s style Polaroid SX70 camera. The emulsion is then manually manipulated directly on the photo with a stylus tool, blurring the lines of what is perceived as conventional photography. The photos, which are printed on archival quality canvas or watercolour paper, are often considered painterly and dreamlike. Photographic reality slips in and out of view as some elements of the photos are manipulated, while other aspects are left in their natural state.

Most of my photographs focus on the natural beauty of the Comox Valley. I currently have a collection of over 120 photographs including: a sunflower series, an antique car series and a garden flower series. This process is limited in its body of work worldwide. Polaroid no longer makes the manipulating film (known as Time Zero); it was discontinued as of Dec. 2007. I recently acquired some film from Switzerland, and I have 80 shots left to complete my artistic journey working within this medium. As an emerging artist in a very unique field, I look forward to sharing my creative work with the Comox Valley community and beyond. For further information, or an interest in purchasing my photographic art, please contact me at: chaseimages@shaw.ca.