NEW YORK — One local woman is making her name known in the big city of New York.
Chloe Chiasson, a 2011 graduate of Port Neches-Groves High School, had her artwork selected to be featured on a billboard in New York.
The contest was hosted by SaveArtSpace, an organization that transforms advertising spaces into public art in New York City. Chiasson submitted her piece titled 'You'll never be a man' to by reviewed alongside hundreds of other artist. The contest came down to votes on Instagram and Chiasson received the most.
Chiasson said she discovered her passion at the age of 8-years-old. She loved to draw but found it hard to balance this hobby among her other activities.
"Art had become something of my past, that truly I had forgotten and gave no thought to-I remembered it as something I did as a child, and nothing more." Chiasson said.
She said took the required art classes in high school but focused most of her time on soccer. Any art making she had dabbled in during these high school classes ceased all together in college as she was studying a Bachelor of Science and playing collegiate soccer at the same time.
"A year after I graduated college I found myself at a crossroad trying to figure out really what I wanted to do with my life and what I wanted it to look like." Chiasson said. "I was unhappy in my job and knew that I wasn’t doing what I was meant to be doing."
She said she began to look for outlets, things to do to relive stress and her mind always wandered to one thing.
"So, in mid to late 2016, I decided to buy some pastels and just start making stuff solely for fun and for myself, nothing or no one else," Chiasson said.
Chiasson found her love for art again. By the end of the year she had her mind made up that this was exactly the path she wanted to take. She quit her job and started the application process to art schools in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Pennsylvania.
In September of 2017 Chiasson began the masters program of fine arts at the New York Academy of Art.
Chiasson said the ability to connect people and share stories is was drew her to the world of art.
"It began with a desire to share other people’s stories from misrepresented and underprivileged communities," Chiasson said. "But, as I’ve grown in this field, I’ve found it’s also a way for me to share my story and even work through and express some very personal feelings and thoughts that I know many others in today’s society go through."
That was the motivation behind the piece on the billboard. Like she mentioned above, the piece was titled "You'll Never Be A Man." Chiasson said the painting was inspired by her position as a gay woman being trapped in and breaking free from a complex cultural.
"As a strong feminist and advocate for difference as well as equality among men and women, it is something that I have never forgotten that fuels me to this day," Chiasson said.
She also said the title was something a man once said to her and so she took to a canvas and painted a response.
Chiasson said that winning this contest was a huge breaking point for her career in art.
"I feel like most of what I have experienced and gone through in my life has all had a distinct purpose in leading me to exactly where I am now, doing exactly what I’m doing, and making exactly the work that I am making," Chiasson said.
"When I look at the piece I am looking at myself, and any of those who have endured similar experiences to mine, and I am overwhelmed with a sense of pride in who I have become regardless of it all," Chiasson said.
