Nº101: Elleanna Chapman
The artist talks Chavvy Chic™, outdated tech, and Dialectical Materialism.
We’re back with Elleanna Chapman. Read on to find out what she’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for an artist’s recommendations every week.
Elleanna Chapman (b. 2002, Essex) is a communist and artist.
☞ CHAVVY CHIC™: No longer can people leverage chavvy against me as an insult. Chavvy Chic is in, forever!!! Nails done to the nines, matching trackies, so much gold jewellery to make your nan feel sick. Plus whatever chiceries you can find for cheap on eBay, Depop, Vestiare, etc. Personally, I choose to sport some secondhand Chanel sunnies (with a few diamentés missing) and a MiuMiu handbag so loved, she’s falling apart. It’s not just an aesthetic darlings, it’s a lifestyle. Don’t forget some gorgie trainers to top it all off – and make sure you wear those shoes loud and proud, whatever the occasion. Bonus points if you’re somewhere where sportswear is deemed ‘inappropriate’. The Naysayers can simply bog off x
☞ WIKIPEDIA: The free encyclopedia. Treasure trove of endless and endlessly niche knowledge. Recent highlights include the pages on the Cultural impact of Beyoncé, Chimney sweep, and Sanders-Trump voters. Every time I watch a film, I simply have to read the plot summary on Miss Wiki after. It starts off as cross-referencing, but by the end of the night, I’ve fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
☞ FIONA LALI: Icon, diva, comrade of the Revolutionary Communist International just like meee. Absolutely dunked Suella Braveman AND Farage. As she should. Best bit is, Fiona is one of many divalicious comrades active across the world. Capitalism and its rulers better watch tf out. Class struggle is coming – question is, will you be ready??
☞ RESIDENCIES AKA RENT-FREE STUDIOS: Since graduating in 2024, I have been working out of a hot pink garden shed. This is all very lovely and cute, but I have to admit that it can feel a bit isolated, despite the best efforts of my cat, Pepper. However, I am also not too keen on spaffing away hundreds each month for a bit of company and a more suitable work space… Enter the residency! I flipping love a residency. Free studio space, plus new pals, plus meeting even more pals AND professionals, and having a good old time on a dime. What is not to love. Maybe the highly competitive and (often) time-consuming application processes to access said residencies… However, when they do come around, they are bloody brilliant, and satisfyingly rent-free. Huzzah!
☞ THE REAL HOUSEWIVES: I casually rewatched eight seasons of the Real Housewives of Atlanta when bedazzling my latest artwork. For the last few years, various franchises of the Real Housewives have been a constant in my studio. There’s nothing like affluent women fighting one another to get you in the creative mood. It’s a good moment for Real Housewives fans (me) at the mo, as we have been blessed with new seasons of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and London, concurrently. The latter is a bit scandalous in its prosperity. Whilst most of us are looking out for our pennies, our favourite she-EO Amanda Cronin is throwing a champagne and caviar celebration for International Women’s Day… Hm… Good to know that a kilo of caviar sets you back £1450. I’m sure brazenly sharing this info won’t come back to bite them on the arse…
☞ DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM: Doing a bit of 180 from my housewives, when I’m not watching reality TV, you may find me engaging with some good ol’ Marxist theory. Dialectical Materialism, which is the philosophical backbone of the stuff, is a bit of an unsung hero, in my opinion. It often gets neglected by many on the left who mistakenly peg philosophy as something too aloof to be of importance for the class struggle. But at the end of the day, if you aren’t consciously engaging with your own revolutionary philosophy, you’re going to be subconsciously absorbing the ideas of the world around you. And under capitalism, that’s the eclectic and confused ideas of the ruling class. In essence, Dialectical Materialism is the logic of contradiction, situated within the real world. I have too many praises to sing them all here, but if you are really looking for a deep dive, I recently read Engel’s Anti-Dühring – the first section on philosophy is pretty conclusive. There’s also the (considerably shorter) ABC’s of Materialist Dialectics by Trotsky, which is worth a read.
☞ OUTDATED TECH: This one is a love/hate. Perhaps even a WARNING. iPods, monitors, camcorders, etc. So cute. So tactile. But alas, this iPod doesn’t work unless it’s plugged in at all times. Oh, and not that plug. It has to be that specific plug that you overlooked earlier. I also discovered this year that in order to convert footage that I had already shot on MiniDV camera, I had to spend 90 quid on a converter thingy majingy from eBay. Blood hell. Is the faff really worth it? I hear the jury’s still out.
☞ EBAY: Where I source said outdated tech, as well as bits and bobs of all varieties. Recent listings I was quick to purchase include Beyoncé Recent UK Newspaper Magazine Clippings Cuttings Lot 2 (mainly from The Sun, lol), Juicy Couture Pink Leopard Cheetah Animal Print Large Suitcase (gotta travel between those residencies in style), Beyoncé Cowboy Carter Tour 2025 Official Fan New (I bought one on the tour and left it in Selekt Chicken Tottenham when picking up my post-concert scran…), Kylie Minogue Poster Smash Hits VINTAGE, and Kewpie Local Costume Complete Catalog 700 Photobook Japanese (I can’t speak any Japanese but still bought both volumes).
☞ HOARDING PDFS ON THE BOOKS APP: From irl hoarding to the digital. Hoarding as Praxis. I collect PDFs of many varieties. I try to read most of them.I end up downloading a lot of articles from communist.red, but also various arty bits, such as Isabella Greenwood’s essay Digital Relics, Cursed Images Post Internet Irony and Neo-Tumblr Revivalism: A Poetic Archaeology of Our Return to Pre-Platform Internet, as well as High Noon in Desire Country: The Lingering Presence of Extended Adolescence in Contemporary Art by Gean Moreno. Mr Moreno uses Comic-Sans, which I simultaneously loathe and respect.
☞ BE A LITTLE BIT DELUSIONAL:
‘Some call it arrogant. I call it confident.’ – Beyoncé, ‘Ego’ from I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008)
I try not to be arrogant or overly confident; however, I would say I have a healthy (?) serving of delusion at almost all times. At the end of the day, I feel like I need to back myself – if I don’t do it, then who will? This leads me to be quite overly optimistic about my prospects in the emerging art world and life in general; however, in my opinion, that’s a lot better than being cynical. It makes working hard easier if you believe you can achieve something at the end. And I believe in myself to a fault – and recommend you do, too x
♪ LISTENING TO: You won’t believe this but I tried to consciously limit the number of Queen Bey references I could make when writing my recommendations… How did I do? My song recc.. then.. is ‘Bug a Boo’ by Destiny’s Child (pre-Michelle </3). It is written by, amongst others, Kandi Burrus, member of XScape and The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2009–2023).
☠ HATES:
First up, controversially, I just don’t like dogs. I’m sorry. Cats are so much better. I have only ever met one dog that I really like, Poly (after Poly Styrene) and that’s because she is super smart (she’s a trained medical assistance dog) and she’s quite small and cat-like. Other than Pol, I don’t get the appeal. They’re just a bit big and stinky and noisy. Sorry x
Secondly, I hate identity politics. Here’s a good article summarising why. It’s unnecessarily divisive and is being peddled by the bourgeoisie more and more. I totally bought into this stuff as a teen on tumblr, but now I am not buying it. It’s my biggest criticism of Miss Bey the Billionaire. Especially in our current political climate, one thing is clear: we need to fight the culture war with class war. So IdPol is firmly on my hate list.
Thanks Elleanna! Follow Elleanna here!
fun read, and adore her work <3