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JOE CHESLA    gallerybiographyphd exhibitionfeatured pressfeatured press

Beauty. Craftsmanship. Simplicity. Balance. The art work of internationally exhibited SLCC Meramec Art Professor, Joe Chesla, reveals the hidden beauty of natural order and organic process by omitting parts which are superfluous. What remains is a collaboration between Artist and Nature. His aesthetic blends craftsmanship and technical expertise with the eastern sensibilities of balance, harmony, simplicity, and economy of material.

Combining wood and skillfully crafted metal parts, Joe Chesla creates unique, yet oddly familiar sculptures which seem to tell part of a larger story. At a glance his sculptures may appear to be random or found "parts" but are, in fact, deliberate and precise creations. Chesla challenges conventional aesthetics, daring us to see art in his sculptural hybrids of nature and industrialization. Chesla also creates mineral infused "rust" and "salt" prints. The one of a kind "prints" are created by exposing specially teated fibrous paper to the natural processes of oxidization.

Joe Chesla received his MFA from Utah State University and has exhibited internationally. He worked as a preparator at The Walker Art Center in Kansas City, and as head preparator at Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City for their inaugural year and a half. Chesla is also the recipient of numerous awards including Utah State University Arts Grant and Utah Arts Council Grant. He is an Assistant Professor at St. Louis Community College Meramec, and heads the sculpture department where he coordinates the sculpture program.

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