Meet Molly Champlin | Artist and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Molly Champlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Molly, what matters most to you?
Being present with and supporting other artists, friends, family, and students gives me a strong sense of purpose and motivation. I love the way my communities overlap and mix, how our actions together are more powerful than as individuals, and how we keep each other motivated through tough times. Recently, I’ve also deepened my understanding of the value of physical and emotional health. Working big in the studio is one way I force myself to stay present with my body. I’ve found I need a certain level of willpower and athleticism to stick with the big paintings which keeps me grounded. I also enjoy taking time to move outside of my art practice. It feels subversive toward an economy always vying for our attention and resources to generate one’s own energy through exercise, self reflection, or intentional rest. I’m inspired when this mindset is expanded to the level of a community practice through gatherings focused on physical or emotional rejuvenation. Cultivating a growth mindset and sharing that with others is a value I often return to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve learned to be comfortable with the unknown. I’m generating my path one piece at a time and my art is a big part of what guides me. When growing up I always liked to make marks: I’d fill sketchbooks and journals with collage, scribbles, diaristic writing, and crappy drawings. I don’t think anyone thought I should be an artist. It wasn’t until I graduated from Berkeley with an English degree and started working a collection of odd jobs that I started finding my way into different creative communities. I lived in an artist co-op in downtown San Francisco, helped start a writing workshop, and took painting classes at City College which ended up inspiring me to become a teacher. This was around the time the app economy was generating the second big tech boom in the city. Watching the city transform inspired my continuing fascination with technology. While I mourned the gentrification tech companies were causing, I was still enamored with digital media and the illusions of magic it could create. I started painting circuit boards, copying the detailed silicon trails and parts I had no idea the function of. Fast forward a few years to grad school at CSULB where I studied with Daniel Dove, one of the first generation of painters to make landscapes based on digital models. I started learning computer modeling software as well, starting with the same Blender donut tutorial used for the film Everything Everywhere All at Once. My goal was not to create naturalistic scenes though, but to engage the software as a drawing tool or a mode of abstraction. These days, I use a physical collage process to weave together digital constructions, imagined figures, and glimpses of nature from around the Los Angeles Area. I enjoy having a process that feels generative, where one step leads to the next. Maintaining curiosity and staying present with the work keeps me going, and though I don’t always know where I’m headed, this city is not short on past narratives, parralel worlds, and possible futures to explore.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh man, I’ve been spending a lot of time around the Arroyo Seco. I love that the trails connect all the way from the foothills of Altadena down to the LA river–you can hike up by JPL, run laps around the Rose Bowl, or bike alongside the historic CA-110. This past summer I also fell in love with the LA Public Library, particularly the makerspace at the Octavia Lab. I like working on my own things but also just being in a space where so many people are manifesting their creative projects from sewing, to podcasting, to 3D printing. For a great sightseeing day, we could start at the Rose Bowl, ride down the Arroyo Seco bike path and up the LA River path to Spoke Cafe to snack and sip on Trystero coffee. Then head over to the Central Library to browse the shelves and take advantage of the large format printing at the Octavia Lab, and end the day gallery hopping or listening to music at one of the community spaces, collectives, galleries, or venues LA is fertile with.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am the result of some strong matriarchies. I was blessed with a crazily determined and optimistic grandmother, who constantly pushed my siblings and I to do more and be different, as well as a mother who valued organization, work ethic, and selflessness. In grad school at CSU Long Beach my advisor Marie Thiebault opened my eyes to the deep history and potential in the language of color. I also have many peers who constantly inspire me: Adena Ishii, who as a first time political hopeful was recently elected Mayor of Berkeley (the first woman of color to hold the spot). Also, the artists of all genres and genders I’ve shared studios, critiques, and collaborations with at CSULB, who are now teaching, curating, making work, and attesting to the excellence of the CSULB College of the Arts. And, while many of the people guiding me on my journey are cis-women, I am grateful for my trans and gender-fluid friends whose courage challenges old norms of gender, and in doing so, open space for more indeterminacy in our understanding of identity.

Website: https://www.mollychamplin.com

Instagram: @mollychamplinart

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebirdsareout