My continued research explores the many facets of communal identity along the Rio Grande Valley on the US/Mexico border, an increasingly misrepresented international border which remains an entity unto itself. What interests me are personal and collective movements through public spaces and its implications on the physical and social experience of this isolated region. My work conveys a sense of excommunication to which people often relate to, while also referencing my own internal struggles with Crohn’s disease. The symbolically charged iconography of ‘vessels’ and ‘bundles’ contain moments of seemingly aggressive tension juxtaposed within serene surroundings. Manifestations of these tethered vessels tend to pierce through subconscious thoughts, forcing me to continually question my sense of place and inner stability. 

Kyle Chaput was born and raised in Salina, Kansas (USA) which lies in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains. After obtaining a BFA in Printmaking and Drawing from Fort Hays State University in western Kansas, Kyle ventured south for his MFA at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. It was there that Kyle had the rare opportunity to study and teach Color Theory with Bruno Andrade, who was taught the Albers’ tradition and methods in graduate school by two of Josef Albers’ students: Vincent Castagnacci and Si Sillman. This unique opportunity brought about a newfound appreciation for the importance of the elements of art and their role throughout the creative process.

Over the past fifteen years Chaput has been included in over one hundred juried and invitational exhibitions, served as an art juror in four states and has been a contract printer in a number of settings. His prints, which have earned several awards and honors, are included in numerous public and privately-owned collections.