About

Conceptual artist Hana Bleue Chaussette’s work abundantly shows the profound influence her years as an expat in Asia, especially in her characteristic use of multiple images and text as building blocks of meaning—-the direct result of her knowledge of Chinese and Japanese written languages and Asian aesthetics and philosophy.

Visual art can also have its own etymology just like any language, but for Chaussette, her work is not only meant to be read and understood, but also “felt.” For this reason, objet trouve, memory and storytelling in general, are among her most frequently used tools. Like an anthropologist, her process is to take a deep dive into the lives of her subjects, with interviews, research and even embedding herself into their world—- for a day, a week or longer. This will determine the form the work will take whether as a painting, sculpture, short story or even a performance. And alarmed by the effects of the Digital Age and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, Chaussette believes her now urgent challenge is to continue to find new ways to instill empathy and a sense of connection in her viewers. Figurative and public art serves this purpose well.

Chaussette received a scholarship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studied in the UK, Duke University and Osaka University of Arts in Japan. She is a founder of Atelier 54 Chicago with four women artists from France and Mexico. The influence of her work as an artist-turned-journalist working in radio and television can be seen in her public art series, “Unsung Heroes: Art of People on the Streets IN the Streets,” exhibited in JCDecaux bus shelters the summer of 2024 in Chicago and now on display online.