Biography                                                                                                                

Connie Chappel was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  While working as a bookkeeper, she enrolled in an art history course with a studio component that landed her in art school.  In 1986 she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts - First Class Honours from the University of Manitoba.  In 1990 she earned a Bachelor of Recreation Studies, Honours degree. 

For 16 years, as a recreation director, Chappel promoted creative expression in the lives of the elderly by teaching, facilitating, and encouraging various art forms.  Gaps in her own artistic output always related to the demands of her job as a recreation director.

Chappel usually incorporates collage and/or assemblage into her work.  Although she paints and takes photographs, she favours three-dimensional work as it provides an interaction with space and physically engages the viewer.  Many of her sculptural pieces are by-products of recycled materials.  Some of her larger pieces are built using layers and layers of paper torn from the daily newspaper. 

Over the years, the many illnesses and untimely deaths in her immediate family have been subtly expressed within her art like a cryptic form of communication.  Themes of loss, memory and fertility appear in her work.  Juxtaposing the seriousness of content, she employs a playfulness via whimsical surfaces and combinations.  She finds inspiration in the work of Louise Bourgeois, Frida Kahlo and Franz West.

Chappel's work has been shown in Canada, United States and Mexico.  She is currently involved in an international exhibition in Greece.  Since 2007 she has been focusing on her art on a full-time basis.

Mannequins of Puerto Vallarta, July 27, 2010, aceartinc.

Moon, 2010, St. Norbert Art Centre