Subjects of relation
Chyenne Westphal (2003) moves along the frayed edges of family: loyalty, silence, closeness, and distance. Her work begins with a desire to understand what remains unspoken; the quiet systems that shape her and the threads her family is woven from.
Using watercolors, she paints roughly and instinctively, letting fluidity express what words cannot. Textile brings a different rhythm: care, repetition, resistance—a form that both holds and unravels. She works from stills taken from old home videos; fragmented, raw images that allow her to reframe memory and explore the space it occupies.
Her practice is rooted in making-as-knowing: thinking through materials rather than above them. Letting go of control becomes part of the process, revealing what resists being fixed or named. In stains, threads, and fragile gestures, her work holds tension without forcing clarity. It does not seek to explain, but opens space for reflection and recognition. Her images move gently between the personal and the social, between holding on and letting go, a quiet invitation to feel where we come from and how we carry it with us.