Life & Work with Chris Engman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Engman.

Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My love of photography began when I went to work on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska and my father gave me a camera to bring along. In one wild and fun year, I spent the summer fishing, drove across the country in the fall, and found work photographing skiers in New York for the winter. I went back to the University of Washington to study art, sold my photographs in cafes for a couple of years, and was picked up by Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle, the best contemporary art gallery in that city. I have since relocated to Los Angeles, received an MFA from USC, and shown my work extensively around the country and in Europe.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
These days I make art full-time, but it took a long time to get here. Along the way, I sold beer at sports events (beer, here!), worked in construction, and was a city bus driver in Seattle from 2008-2011. More recently, I taught art and photography at various Southern California universities and colleges. One of the more difficult challenges, and I know I’m not alone here, has been learning to balance my work with raising a child. Part of the solution has been to make art alongside and with my son Elio, who is 4. I now make artwork that is informed by a child’s point of view.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My process begins with a landscape. I cover the walls and surfaces of my studio with prints that are skewed very, particularly such that they read as “whole” from a single vantage point. I then draw and paint on the prints, sometimes together with Elio, sometimes using drawings on paper by him or me as source material. The result is photographed and shown. As I put it in the artist statement announcing my current exhibition: a child’s drawings are erratic, occasionally brilliant, very often brimming with vitality and pleasure. It is the latter in particular that made me my toddler’s student.

The show is titled Prism and is on view downtown at the wonderful Luis De Jesus Los Angeles through June 10.

What does success mean to you?
I believe that success looks different for different people. In my case, while there will always be reviews and prestigious museums to strive for, collections to get into, and financial goals to be met, I am most deeply gratified by how much of my time I am able to devote to doing what I love to do. For this, I am grateful to the gallerists, collectors, family, and friends who have helped me to have that opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: chrisengman.com
• Instagram: chris.engman
• Other: gallery website: https://www.luisdejesus.com/exhibitions/chris-engman6

Image Credits
Images Courtesy of Chris Engman and Luis De Jesus Los Angeles