Artist Spotlight: Chase Erachi

On Sunset Boulevard between Sherbourne Drive and Horn Avenue, bold, colorful patterns cover the sidewalk and utility boxes. Pattern Park, an eye-catching art installation, was created by artist Chase Erachi as part of the City of West Hollywood’s Micro-Park Pilot Program. The micro-parks are an effort by the city to activate underused spaces while West Hollywood Park is being renovated. Pattern Park, the city’s final micro-park installation, was created in March 2018.

Born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, Erachi moved to Los Angeles at age 17. He lived in different areas of the city before settling in West Hollywood. Erachi talked to us about his art, the inspiration for Pattern Park, and what he loves about this neighborhood.

What is unique about your art and the pieces you create?

What’s unique about my art is that it predominantly lies in public spaces. It is optimistic, and the intent is to bring a happy atmosphere to an otherwise bland area or building .

How did you end up doing Pattern Park in West Hollywood?

The public arts commissioner contacted me and explained that West Hollywood was doing an initiative called “micro-parks,” which incorporated art elements like painting and sculpture, etc., into public spaces. This lot was one of these areas that they had in mind. We had a meeting and they said, “Look, if you’re into it, we want you to think of something. How would you transform all these sidewalks and the parking booth?” I came up with a concept that would represent the playfulness of West Hollywood and the diversity of its inhabitants and it all came together that way.

You often use patterns in your work. What do they mean to you?

I starting including patterns in my work around 2005. I started with an eyeball pattern that I would incorporate either as a total painting or as an element in paintings or murals to give more depth to what would otherwise be a texture or a flat color. So that eyeball pattern started it off. As you get a little bit older and wiser, you start to relate things to life, and vice versa. Things multiply, there’s repetition. Think of cell division, the point of conception, all the way to patterns in one’s behavior. You know, recurring patterns with history, societal patterns, thinking patterns…  Nature itself has the Fibonacci sequence, which is pattern-like if you look at it—things like honeycomb in a beehive. It’s everywhere.

My intention is always to find a happy, joyful way to communicate what I feel are the best things about life without getting too cheesy or too literal. I always like what a pattern does visually. Specifically for Pattern Park, the various patterns together represent the patchwork of diversity in West Hollywood.

What do you like best about living in West Hollywood?

I like that it’s 20 minutes away from Downtown on a good day and 20 minutes away from the beach. I just like the vibe of it. I like the stores. I like the food. I like all the nightlife options that are close by, the shopping… I feel like it’s the real LA. For me, if I’m going to live in LA, I don’t want to live in Riverside. I want to live in West Hollywood.

When you need your personal art fix, where do you go?

I like to go to museums and just delve in. Here in LA, I like LACMA and The Broad. In Paris, I go to the Louvre. You never know what little idea the artist pondered over to develop a particular piece. Maybe there is a lesson in there, and I like trying to figure it out.

But I digest a lot of art all the time. Instagram is where I go daily and follow all my friends and people whose work I dig, like @van_minnen, @kaws, @osgemeos, and @charlie_chops. With the right eye, you see the beauty in all things. Anything can be art.

To see more of Chase Erachi’s work, follow him on Instagram at @theartofchase

Updated from the original article written by Maxine Tatlonghari