Emily Chaplin is one of 13 local artists in the Roaring Fork Valley whose work will be displayed as part of a local exhibition hosted by Christie’s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass. It begins today and runs through Aug. 2.
Courtesy of Emily Chaplin
Beginning today and running through Aug. 2, Christie’s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass is turning its Aspen office into an art gallery featuring the work of local artists.
Their works will be displayed through a rotating showcase featuring a different Roaring Fork Valley artist every day. The free exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to meet the artists themselves, hear the stories behind their work and experience the range of creativity flourishing throughout the valley.
“These artists represent the incredible creative spirit of the Roaring Fork Valley,” said Olivia Cook, of Christie’s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass, in a news release. “We’re honored to provide a space where the community can meet the artists, hear their stories firsthand and experience the ideas behind the work. It’s about celebrating the people who make this valley such an inspiring place to live.”
While each artist brings their own story and distinct style and medium, one common goal emerges — to encourage viewers to slow down, look more closely and reconnect with the world around them.
For watercolor artist Will Bradford, who will be featured on Thursday, that invitation begins with his own artistic restraint.
Bradford has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for 20 years. His minimalist paintings intentionally leave much of the page untouched, allowing negative space to become as important as the subject itself.
“Rather than covering the page, I intentionally confine my painting to a small fraction of the paper,” Bradford said. “The vast negative space becomes an active, structural element.” His hope is that visitors discover that “minimalist art can make the grandest of statements.”
A similar sense of reflection is echoed by artist Cristian Whitney, whose newest body of work, “We Remember,” began not with paint, but with questions.
“Every body of work begins long before the images start to take form,” Whitney said. Months of walking, meditation, journaling and quiet observation shape each collection before he ever picks up a brush.
His work, which will be displayed July 30, asks a simple but timely question, “What would happen if we carried the moments when the noise fades away a little longer?”
The Olivia Daane painting “Heartbeat Butterfly” is part of her show at the offices at Christie’s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass. Daane kicks off a local artist exhibition today. A different local artist will be featured daily through Aug. 2.
Courtesy of Olivia Daane
Ultimately, Whitney hopes visitors leave “feeling a little softer,” adding that “if someone leaves the exhibition and meets the next stranger with just a little more curiosity, compassion or grace then the work has fulfilled its purpose.”
Several artists draw directly from the natural world — not simply as subject matter, but as both muse and teacher.
Olivia Daane, whose work kicks off the show today, describes her creative practice as an “artistic treasure hunt,” collecting thoughts, words and images until they rise together into a new body of work.
Daane has lived in Aspen for nearly three decades. She begins many pieces by connecting images to poetry before layering acrylics and inks. Her newest works have been shaped by travels across four continents, from the mountains of Bhutan to waterways around the world.
She hopes visitors leave with this takeaway: “The importance of art for healing and voicing the potential humans hold for positive innovation, evolution and coexisting with this incredible, magical planet we inhabit.”
Nature also serves as both inspiration and collaborator for floral artist Nicole Popp, whose botanicals celebrate beauty, resilience and transformation.
Rather than forcing an outcome, she allows each painting to reveal itself over time.
“Every blank canvas is a new beginning — an invitation to discover what wants to emerge,” she said. Built through countless layers of wax and pigment, her paintings often “live many lives before I consider them complete.”
Popp, who will show on Sunday, hopes visitors leave “delighted, inspired, and reminded of the extraordinary beauty that surrounds us every day.”
For Emily Chaplin, the featured artist on July 27, beauty arrives through texture and movement.
Her abstract floral paintings, inspired by gazing into blooming cherry and peach trees, are built almost entirely with palette knives and other unconventional tools. Layers of paint are repeatedly applied and removed until the composition emerges.
“The most rewarding aspect of my work,” Chaplin said, “is seeing a painting uplift another person ringing a moment of joy.”
For more information, visit christiesaspenre.com/christies-in-july.