An interview with 2025 Artist Resident Van Payne ahead of her group show opening on September 4, 2026 at Chicago Artists Coalition. This spotlight series aims to serve as an intimate introduction to our residents and their work through a Q&A-style interview. Interview originally conducted on May 18, 2026 by Dana Randall, Communications and Alumni Relations Manager at Chicago Artists Coalition.
Q: Do you have any common themes running through your most recent works in progress?
A: Right now, it’s a little bit of game theory in a very basic sense. Game theory, as I’m approaching it, is the study of how we react when our outcomes are dependent on what other people do. Here, identity is defined by action—what you do and what you don’t do. In its simplicity, that premise opens up a way of thinking about identity as a constellation of relationships rather than a category. Identity as a constellation of relationships is definitely a theme.
Q: How has your work evolved since being in the CAC residency?
A: CAC has enabled me to be more playful in the studio and has freed up the mental space to pursue more ambitious projects. Not feeling solely responsible for creating space and visibility for my work has been a game changer. I also think the consistent exposure to all of the programming you guys do has introduced so many wonderful people and conversations into my life. Those relationships have definitely pushed the work in unexpected ways.
Q: What are some of your biggest artistic influences? Where do you find inspiration?
A: Oof. Artists like Suzanne Jackson and John Outterbridge are definitely at the top of the list. Jackson’s palette and line are undeniable. Her work has a rhythm that reads and resonates like poetry. She’s definitely a lighthouse for me when I’m feeling lost. I also love Sam Levi Jones and Sonya Clark and the ways they approach our history. Their work inspires me to find alternative ways of engaging, so they’ve been lighthouses in that sense too.
Antique malls are also a huge source of inspiration. I just, like…I’m a haver. I need to have objects around me all the time, and the antique mall is the perfect place to see people’s lives reflected in what they’ve collected and what they’re willing to let go of. An antique mall brings together objects, symbols, images, and tools in ways that, to me, feel almost kismet. Maybe it goes without saying, but the context of an object is essential to understanding how it functions—or what its potential for function might be. I try to bring that experience back into the studio, creating a world of context around the objects I’ve found to reveal how they function in my mind rather than how they were intended to function when they were originally produced.
Q: Tell me about your favorite mediums. What about them speaks to you?
A: Ink! Ink—as opposed to house paint, which I’ve been using since my freshman year of undergrad. House paint is great because it’s so accessible. You can color-match just about anything, and it’s pretty cheap to buy a sample size, which goes a long way. My only qualm with it—which isn’t necessarily a problem—is that it contains so much medium that it looks like paint sitting on a surface.
Ink, on the other hand, really absorbs into the materials I’m using. The way it sits on wood feels intimate, almost sensual, to me. There’s something about that relationship that I’m still trying to understand. As I’m applying color, I’m thinking about how the material itself can evolve through its relationship to color, rather than using color to create the illusion of a different surface, if that makes sense.
Q: Do you have a favorite time of day to create? How does the time you find or choose to make influence your practice?
A: Ideally, I would love to create at, like, ten in the morning, but I haven’t been able to swing that with work until recently. So, I would say for the past year, I would work at the studio late nights into the morning – two, three or four days a week depending on my capacity. Consistency is the hardest part of practicing anything, especially artmaking. One of the benefits of working late like that though is that I got familiar with the feeling of pushing. Pushing to be more intentional in the studio. Pushing to not waste time. Pushing to do the hard things the hard way because I know I’ll learn more. Showing up to the studio at 10pm after a long day of being of service means you really want to be there. That’s one of the benefits of the 10pm to 3am situation, it’s proof of pushing.
Long story long, I generally do feel most creative in the morning, so I’ll try to draw when I’m still in bed or throughout the day. Then, I guess, the “real work” or the work that I want to show people happens at night.
Q: In keeping with our values, one thing we want to do is cultivate a community of knowledge-sharing. What is something you would encourage other artists to learn about? What is something that made a difference in your career?
A: Probably the most important thing I’m learning is how to show up when I don’t want to. In and out of the studio, I’m getting used to the labor of showing up. Also, being curious about the administrative side of the gallery, building relationships with collectors, and looking at different gallery systems. Those have all been good places to start.
I admire, and think folks should check out, Primary Projects in Miami and Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles. I really appreciate the work these galleries do to prioritize the people at the heart of this market. For example, Commonwealth and Council started a mutual fund where they asked their collectors to consider contributing their customary discounts to a fund that supports their artists’ needs outside of the gallery. Together, the artists decide how to use that money and have since prioritized making sure all participating artists have health insurance, among other forms of support.
To me, they represent a push to create a more conscientious and intentional space for collectors and artists to interact in. I think knowing that places like this exist is indispensable information when you’re figuring out how you want to be represented and how you want to monetize your labor.
Q: Do you have a personal philosophy relating to your practice or your life?
A: Art is the practice of caring and the work is a vessel for care. In everything.
Website: thevanpayne.com
Instagram: @thevanpayne
You can view Van’s work at her group show opening on Friday, September 4, 2026 from 5-8pm at Chicago Artists Coalition alongside Sebastian Bruno-Harris, Rob Croll and Nick D’Alessandro, curated by Taj Richardson.