Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Work and Play: Chris Engman

Chris Engman, Play Room, 2021.

212 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104, United States

“I measure and calculate, make landscapes and rooms, compose and prepare,” the artist Chris Engman wrote in 2023, “When I’m ready to make marks I push those considerations to a quieter part of my mind.” In his latest series, “Prism,” Engman’s large photographs of nature are layered with sheer photographic reflections of home interiors, creating the dimensionality of a prism. Other images wear joyful, colorful drawings inspired by Engman’s young son. The Los Angeles-based artist not only emulates his son’s imaginative and improvisatory style, he sometimes allows him to draw directly on the photographs. “My son is my prism,” he says, “the world that I see through his eyes is new and strange, terrifying and beautiful. How wonderful is that?” —Jeanne Malle

Photo: Chris Engman/Courtesy of Greg Kucera Gallery