Incorporated into Chad Anthony Copeland's art are found objects, especially pieces of doors.
"The significance of doors is that everybody opens and closes doors throughout their life. They're very symbolic objects to me. Keeping doors open for me is the most important part of being successful. I hope to pay homage by using them in my art and decorating my house," Copeland said in an interview Dec. 2.
Copeland, 23, Valparaiso, was one of the artists displaying their work at Art Murmur at Mad Anthony's Lake City Taphouse, Warsaw. He classified himself as being a found object sculptor and painter.
"Almost everything I do has to do with found objects of some sort," he said.
"Doors, wood, broken pieces of frame, rope, glass. All of that can be found (in my art) on my website. Nails, string, anything that I can find and preserve. If it's going to rot away, I won't use it," Copeland said.
He started digging into art in high school, but was involved in art before then, he said. Initially, he started out as just a regular drawer, but his interest built in painting. When high school ended, Copeland decided to chase art school.
He got into photography. He moved out of that and into painting. First, he was into oils, but then moved to acrylics.
"I really enjoyed that," he said.
In his third year of art school, he apprenticed under a professor, Bobby Joe Scribner, who was into welding. Copeland dropped out of art school to work with Scribner full time.
"It made me a better asset for him to have," Copeland said.
Copeland has been working under Scribner since 2007.
"He's a major influence in what I do," Copeland said.
"I've had a huge background in art already," he said. "It's something that seeded itself in my life and it's not going to go away. Right now, it's still extremely experimental. I'm still trying to find out what I want to do and my own style."
Month to month, Copeland said he tries something new. For awhile, he eliminated subject matter from his art, but is slowly bringing it back into his work.
"I'm still hunting for something to fall into place," he said.
Prior to the Dec. 2 Art Murmur, Copeland's work has been shown mostly in Northern Illinois at the Starline Gallery on several occasions.
"It's a cool place to display," he said.
He's also had his work shown at the Valparaiso International Center.
Copeland is always learning. His goals include to go back to school, Ball State University, and get his bachelor's degree in fine arts so he can then do some master's degree work. He said he'd like to get an apprenticeship with Joachim Knill for studio photography.
"He photographs found objects," said Copeland. "He makes them look like a real landscape so you wouldn't know it's not."
Copeland said he wants to get more accustomed to how the art world works. There's also a group of artists out of Hannibal, Mo., he wants to work with in one way or another.The art world is a tight community, Copeland said, and one he wants to be a part of in life.
"It's a community," he said. "You hear about a show and tell your friends about it. It's all about opening doors for me. Doors are a thing for me."
For more information about Copeland, visit his website at chadacopeland.com
