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Drie Chapek (Dree)

@drie_chapek

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Painter of conscious embodiment, Community member, Puget Sound swimmer, cascade backpacker
May 2027 ie Gallery

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We’re so excited to have Drie Chapek and her exuberant paintings at iolair for the next couple of weeks! Mark your calendars for her Nov 1 open studio.

Drie Chapek was raised in the in between, between homes, divorced parents, social classes, life and death. Drie’s older sister was born with heart defects that have had teetering between living and passing. This ever-present existence of the vail shaped Drie’s awareness of humanity and our relationship to environment. As a child was provided changing perspectives from divorced parents whom each separately moved every two years across many states. Before graduating with a BA from the University of Kansas, where she studied with Roger Shimomura and Tanya Hartman, Chapek was given a full scholarship to study abroad in Stoke-on-Trent, England in 2001. It was there, that Drie learned she had a deep desire to create visionary work to find a visual language that could talk about personal transformation through connection to the natural world.

Photo 📸 by Ryan Warner for My Edmonds News by @drie_chapek

I’m headed to a two week residency with @iolairarts . Thank you for having me! We’ll have an open studio Nov 1st 2-4 in Eastsound on Orcas Island, Wa. Come see what I’ve been playing with as well as a few painting I brought with me from my show “Then is Now” with @gregkuceragallery. by @drie_chapek

“I convince myself I’m having a conversation with the paint. I leave space for it to make a move before I make a move.”

For Gideon’s Bakery, Drie Chapek discusses disagreeing with a painting, finding solutions in unexpected places, and gathering fragments of daily life to construct “a new space of consciousness.”

Read our interview with @drie_chapek

Drie ChapekCrisp Renewal, 2025Oil paint on canvas48 × 52 inches by @drie_chapek

I am not a sculptor 😄😄 but as a painter I can turn stone into flesh. You know the moment in a marble figure sculpture when flesh presses in and looks like it could come to life?

In MARBLE TOUCH, Chapek portrays the moment in marble sculpture when flesh appears to yield beneath pressure and the viewer senses cold stone warming to the touch. Translated into paint, this intimate exchange opens into an expansive landscape. by @drie_chapek

“Desert Framework” oil paint on Canvas 2026
In DESERT FRAMEWORK, Chapek draws upon a pilgrimage she made to the Santa Fe region to study the environments and structures associated with Georgia O’Keeffe. The building reference—based on a photograph taken during this visit—pays homage to O’Keeffe, an early influence. Through the desert landscape, Chapek develops a visual language for examining mortality and renewal.
“Then is Now” Drie Chapek’s solo show is on view at @gregkuceragallery til June 27th. by @drie_chapek

The Billowing series has been flowing about as long as this kiddo has been growing. Since 2014 I’ve found the transformation of water through air to bring ease.

“Lush Billowing” 24” x 24” 2025
In “Then is Now” @gregkuceragallery til June 27th by @drie_chapek

Crisp Renewal 48” x 52” is part of the “Then is Now” solo show @gregkuceragallery til June 27th. Gallery hours are Tuesday -Saturday 10:30 am - 5:30 pm

Crisp Renewal looks to connect the sensual form to natural rhythms of growth and erosion. Tender forms open into spacious fields of color that are held by dark undergrowth. Bodily forms are found in the changing landscape. Light washes through marks of vivid color.

#naturalworld #somatic #painting #humanity #color by @drie_chapek

“In the Vail” 30” x 40” The marsh is the slowest to break down material and makes the richest soil.

“Then is Now” is up @gregkuceragallery for a few more weeks til June 27th. Treat yourself soon so you don’t mess with FIFA traffic. First game is June 15th.

#seattleartist #somatic #marshland #humanity #oilpainting by @drie_chapek

Artist talk is tomorrow, Saturday at 12:00. I’ll be sharing about the intimate connection to place, living through awareness of dying and how perspective shifting allows for acceptance.

Sharing this work with our community was an absolute delight last night! What a much needed time of pleasure and connection. Art is magic on earth and I’m so grateful to share this space with all of you 🥰😘
📸 @drkabran_chapek by @drie_chapek

…Surprise! “Ideals of Men” in “Then is Now” @gregkuceragallery now through June 27th.

Thank you Son, @boden_chap for modeling your D1 athlete physique.

#maleform #figurepainting #oilpaint #feministart #rower by @drie_chapek

Thank you @nahline.gouin for the article covering our studio visit full of the works that are in “Then is Now” @gregkuceragallery. It is wonderful to have your thoughtful care and attention to the work. @my_lynnwood_news

Link is in my bio if you’d prefer to read it there. by @drie_chapek