issue 6
// art
Title: Grace // Artist: Chris Bettencourt
about the piece
| Linocut relief print, ink on paper. 12×12, edition of 25. Grace is about giving yourself the space to collapse. About taking the time to feel the things you’d rather not. About letting some things die. About momentarily ignoring hope. Letting the weight of the storm bow your head. For me, the American Southwest is a place of grace. The still strength of the plants, the scarred landscape, the healing dry air — they come together to honor the fall and support the recovery. This piece was made with a nod to my Catholic upbringing and the Stations of the Cross. Like those intricate woodcuts depicting moments of pain and failure, Grace is packed with iconography that invites reflection. May we all give ourselves a little grace. |
about the artist // Chris Bettencourt
| Chris Bettencourt is a St. Louis-based multidisciplinary artist, teacher, and community organizer with a residential history in post-industrial cities including Detroit, New Orleans, and Buffalo, and an extensive nomadic practice in the American West and Southwest. She returned to active art-making in 2024 after a long hiatus and has since exhibited widely, winning Best in Show at Art of Darkness at Soulard Art Gallery in St. Louis and Seven at Memento Mori in Denver, with work featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her relief printing practice explores displacement, survival, and resilience — combining precise tooling and design with the democratic potential of the multiple. She also leads Pressing Matters, a community activist printmaking workshop series addressing urgent social justice issues, held at galleries, community spaces, and private venues across the region. |
Instagram: @chrisbettencourt_art
Website
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