Today we introduce you to Chehalis Hegner.
Chehalis, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My father relished and lived a Playboy lifestyle. Mom ran a business and did her best to champion women in the workplace. She was a self-proclaimed feminist. My early family life was complicated, but both of my parents always encouraged me to follow a path with heart.
I graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After completing undergraduate studies I went on to a life as a gigging singer-songwriter in the Boston area. When I lost the use of my left eye due to an illness, I picked up the camera and implemented it as a tool with which to observe life while I still could. When the gift of eyesight itself is on the line, no subject is off-limits so learned to observe the tiny pieces that make up a life through the lens of my camera.
Blindness is at the source of my method of working. Photography taught me how to see more clearly, and the dichotomy of my parent’s differing approaches to a life fueled art-making that is both personally therapeutic and socially engaged. As the visual arts continued to expand in my life, music went silent. Too silent. I enrolled in the MFA program at Leslie College of Art and Design in Cambridge, MA. This led me to work as a freelance artist and two decades as a university photography professor.
Feeling the need to bring our studios together in a meaningful way, my husband (Arthur Ganson, a kinetic sculptor) and I decided to pack up and move back to my family’s tree farm near Chicago. We said our vows under a giant oak and soon acquired 45 acres with several dilapidated farm buildings. Two renovated barns now comprise our husband and wife side-by-side studios where we inspire, challenge, and collaborate on a daily basis.
Our biggest undertaking right now is the restoration of a cathedral dairy barn that wants to be host to a myriad of artistic productions and collaborations. The barn’s roof collapsed on Christmas Eve, 2016 and we’ve been working to bring her back to life ever since. I’ve been documenting the restoration of the barn at Halo Hill for the past two years and am working on material for a book that chronicles the restoration story.
My vitality as a photographer is all about improvisation, connections with people, and life itself. Over the years, an eclectic body of work has piled up as a result of pure observation. I believe in living a vital life and shooting it.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I share this story because it demonstrates my way of working. The essential idea here is that whatever the future throws at me and my camera will become my resulting work. The camera and I are a team where every moment offers infinite possibilities.
On the last night of an international photography exhibition in New York City, I met and invited my new friend Lee to have dinner with me. Walking out of the expo, she struggled to light up a cigarette, heroically lugging several over-sized bags that dangled from her body. I asked if I could help. With a blasé tone, she blurted out, “Why don’t you just carry the May Rays?” I replied, “Wait, you mean THE Man Rays?” She said, “Yeah, that’s right.” I took hold of a pack of six matted photographs taped together and cradled them under my armpit as we walked past the Hustler Club, stepping into a bar where we drank two pints of ale with Man. He sat in the window seat as silently as any dead Man ever could. “I can unwrap them so you can take a look,” she said. “Nah,” I said, “Some things are sexier with their clothes on. Plus, he’ll be safer if we don’t.”
Turmeric light streamed in from the west, painting a luminous ribbon across Lee’s face. Raising the viewfinder to my eye, I clicked the shutter three times. One thing I know for certain is that a photograph can only be as deep as the connection I make with the subject I have in front of me. I knew for certain I had her at shutter click #1 because Lee surrendered all of herself to the making of that picture, and we both felt it.
I paid the bill and we left the restaurant. Lee hailed a cab and disappeared into the night with Man. A few hours later when I sent my picture #1 to Lee in an email, she wrote back and said, “That’s the face of me falling in love with you.”
The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
There’s never been a better time in history for artists to reach out and find an enthusiastic crowd of collectors, clients, and collaborators. That said, given all the variables unique to each artist, I don’t think there’s one formulaic pathway to follow.
Maintain an open mind. Try new things. Make lots of mistakes. Learn from your experiments. Take what you’ve learned and apply it to the next endeavor. Keep a lookout for people who have figured things out a little more than you have. Spend time with those people. Be respectful of their good nature and don’t take too much. Volunteer. Learn as much as you can. Say thank you when someone helps you. In turn, help others. Not because you feel you’re obligated to. Life feels more meaningful when it’s not treated like a transaction. Life will give back without you needing to ask for much. But ask for help when you need it.
Build your community one person at a time by showing up and doing your best. Be part of things that feels bigger than yourself. I think it was Woody Allen who said, “80% of life is showing up” and I’d expand on that by saying “90% of life is showing up ON TIME.” As Americans, most of us have been indoctrinated with the drive to be “winners.” The truth is that no one does anything alone. Your victory is my victory. You get it. Having many spent many summers in Italy, I picked up a great mafia saying: “One hand washes the other and together we wash the face.” A life lived as a competition is a dead end. Life lived as a shared experience is one hell of a joyful ride.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Visit my website and join the mailing list to learn about scheduled exhibitions and other happenings at Halo Hill Studios in Harvard. Make an appointment to arrange for a Halo Hill private or small group studio visit. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. I selectively accept portrait commissions for both Conceptual Fine Art portraits and Signature Portraits. I love teaching and occasionally engage students for private mentoring and workshops. Additionally, Halo Hill Studios is working toward offering photography workshops and collaboration experiences led by some of the most accomplished artists around the world.
10th West Contemporary Art Gallery in Indianapolis will be exhibiting my work during the month of March. A public opening is scheduled for Friday, March 1st at 212 West 10th Street, Suite B-110, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Call (317) 966-6835 for details or to book a private appointment with the curators.
- Website: www.chehalishegner.com
- Email: chehalishegner@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chehalishegner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chehalishegnerphotography/
Image Credit:
©Chehalis Halo Hegner. All rights reserved.
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