Image caption: Chloe Rounce, Constellations, 2021. Polyester yarn, wood, elastic ties, vinyl, LEDs, 30 x 30 x 30 inches. Image and work courtesy the artist.

2022 Martel Award Chloe Rounce

Chloe Rounce has been selected as the recipient of the twenty-second annual Marian and Speros Martel Award of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). The Martel Award is given annually to a graduating senior chosen by CAMH in consultation with the visual arts faculty at the senior’s high school. The selection criteria include: production of a significant and meritorious body of work during the senior year, plans to attend an accredited college, university, or art school, and exceptional promise in the visual arts and attendant professions.

Rounce’s work is immersed in themes of childhood memories of traveling the world as an expatriate, love and relationships with her family and friends, and her mental health. She gravitated toward visual art as a young girl and discovered its possibilities to create stability among her family’s adventures in unfamiliar places. Rounce would often be found carrying pencils and a sketchbook. Rounce proudly claims a passion for color. Color palettes are a way to reflect her attitude towards subjects and objects depicted in her work. An uncomfortable color palette is a tool for Rounce to push boundaries of traditional painting. Most of her artworks are first visualized two-dimensionally with acrylic paint and colored pencils. Rounce builds surfaces into sculptures with her interest in the use of textiles and fiber materials. The investment of time sewing or crocheting individual stitches fascinates Rounce. Her sculpture, Constellations (2021), is inspired by her memories of looking up at stars in her childhood home in the English countryside. The wooden frame of a cube contains twenty-seven crocheted designs of granny squares alongside translucent vinyl. When lit in the dark, LED lights shine through the holes of the crochet patterns and reflect the constellation-like designs. Rounce draws inspiration from artists like Yayoi Kusama, Impressionist painters, and the Fauvism movement. Recent explorations are more design-based with components that are purely created to see how particular colors, shapes, and mediums interact with each other.
 

About Chloe Rounce

Chloe Rounce resides in Houston, Texas, and is originally from Cambridge, England. Through her experience in pre-college programs at New York University (New York), University of Texas (Austin), Art League Houston, and UCLA, she discovered how art school is a perfect fit for her. Rounce plans to attend the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence) and continue her practice in painting while also further explorations in textiles. She hopes to work with sustainable materials for art and apparel design. To Rounce, giving back to her community is a core value in being an artist. She volunteers on the Kinder High School for the Visual and Performing Arts (HSPVA) campus in various ways including mentoring young artists in art workshops via the HSPVA’s MentARTS program and assisting during HSPVA’s annual print show. She also participates in clubs like HSPVA Sustainability, National Honor Society, PVA’ Pen Pals, and organizations like Diversify Your Narrative.

Work Samples

by Chloe Rounce