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Cheryl Daley-Champagnie (1961 - ) Cheryl Daley-Champagnie I believe it as Winston Churchill who said that we build our houses and then they build us. The work of Cheryl Daley-Champagnie is about just that, how we construct our world and how that world then constructs us. The intriguing question is which one truly comes first. Do we build our dwellings with more than mortar and wood that is with fears and biases as well. When we look at the works of the artist we are struck by the richness of color and texture of her images. As we engage in closer observation we see ambiguous figures that are foreboding and oblique in their appearance. These figures occupy the dwelling like sentries standing guard at the doorway of some forbidden place. Before entering this imaginary world deftly created by her we must first understand their meaning. One should not approach these images with preconceived notions about the subject or medium used to execute these powerful images because they represent much more than just mere art objects displayed on a wall. Although the printmaking methods employed by her are traditional, the application of them is not. She continually trespasses over the prescribed boundaries as she asserts her own individual vision. She prints her images to the edge knowing full well her breach of the aesthetic code is necessary to fully articulate her vision. Perhaps this also represents her desire to break from the boundaries of her own artistic dwelling. By shear force of character and artistic vitality she pushes her materials to their full potential. Her work asks of us the same, that we challenge ourselves to break through the bourn dries set by others and ourselves. I was first introduced to Cheryl Daley-Champagnie during a tour of the Edna Manley School of Visual Arts and was immediately taken by the power of her personality and her work. Shortly following my visit she came to New York to work at the famous Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. During her visit I had the opportunity to work with her there and at my studio at Lafayette College in Easton. Pennsylvania. I observed the development of her most recent images in the Dwelling Series. She approached her work with a passion and sense of intuitive faith of an individual both delirious in her dedication and mature in her vision. I watched as she constructed the spaces of what would later house her figures, always wondering whether she placed them there to protect or to imprison them. This ambiguity seems to empower the images as we attempt to decipher their meaning and their relationship to our own lives. The telling of her story may well be the telling of our own. Her dramtic manipulation of color draws us into an atmosphere invested with mystery. The highly embossed lines that betray the tolerance of the paper guide our ebyes gently through the interiors only to stop as we encounter another ominous figure awaiting our acknowledgement. To witness her working on each image with total concentration and full emotional abandonment inspired others at the printmaking Workshop. Cheryl Daley-Champagnie is certainly one of the most gifted young talents on the Jamaican art scene today. I am confident that her original talent and deep artistic passion will undoubtedly impact the art world far beyond the shores of Jamaica. Curlee Raven Holton Professor of Studio Art and Art History Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania Cherly Daley-Champagnie Born: 1961 Kingston Jamaica Colleges Attended: Jamica School of Art (now Edna Manley School for the Visual Arts-EMSVA) Institute of Fine Arts, University of Costa Rica Stat University College, Buffalo, DSA General information Cheryl Daley-Champangie, a 1981 graduate of the Jamaica School of Art (1st Class Honors) – Painting/Art Education, minor – Textiles, studies under Printmakers/Papermakers Frank C. Eckmair (Costa Rica), in 1987 with Peter Sowiski, Paul Martin, and again Frank Edmair at SUCB. Cheryl Daley-Champagnie has taught Papermaking and Prinmaking at the Edna Manley School for the Visual Arts at various levels since 1985. Click to begin slide show.