b. 1988, Brownsville, TX
lives and works in Austin, TX
chantallesley@gmail.com
EDUCATION
2021 BFA, Fine Art Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMS
2024-2025 PhMuseum MEDIAE - Online Masterclass On Transmedia Storytelling
2024 Austin School of Film, Austin, TX
2023 The Contemporary Art School at Laguna Gloria, Austin, TX
2022 Houston Center of Photography, Houston, TX
2021 Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
RESIDENCIES
2025 kala, Berkeley, CA
2025 KUNSTRAUM, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Chateau d'Orquevaux, Orquevaux, France
2024 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2023 The LINE Residency, Big Medium, Austin, TX
2022 Future Front Texas Creator Residency, Austin, TX
2022 LATITUDE, Chicago, IL
AWARDS & GRANTS
2024 Film Photo Award, Finalist
2023 Nexus Grant, City of Austin
2023 Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist
2023 Emerging Artist Grant, Chateau d'Orquevaux
2023 The Contemporary Austin Art School at Laguna Gloria Scholarship
2022 Fotofilmic Class Scholarship
2022 Puffin Foundation Grant
2022 Hohlt and Wich Emerging Photographer Scholarship, Houston Center for Photography
2021 Honorable Mention, 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize
2021 Honorable Mention, Texas State School of Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition, Curator: Christopher Blay
2021 Names Family Foundation Scholarship, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle WA
2021 BFA Thesis Proposal Scholarship, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
2021 Silver - Portrait Photography, Graphis New Talent 2021
2020 Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Honors College, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
2020 Honorable Mention, Third Coast Biennial, K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX, Curator: Rigoberto Luna
2020 Most Original, Exploring Scale in Art, LBJ Student Center Gallery, San Marcos, TX, Curator: Brianna McDonald
2019 AIGA Maura Rose Kampa Scholarship, AIGA, Austin, TX
2019 Honorable Mention, enGENDERing Change, Cloyde Snook Gallery, Alamosa, Curators: Alan L. Woods & Ann Alaia Woods
2019 Best in Show, Texas State School of Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition, Curator: Jenny Gheith
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 [Forthcoming] As I Lay It All To Rest, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2025 Every Crossing Leaves A Ripple, Sabinal Gallery, San Marcos, TX
2024 Meaningful Disruption, Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR
2024 Thicker Than Water, shedshows, Austin, TX
2023 One Day We Will All Be Golden, LHUCA, Lubbock, TX
2023 Window Dressing XXVI: When You've Stopped Staring At The Sun, ICOSA, Austin, TX
2022 En Medio de la Nostalgia, Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, TX
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 LENS 2025, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL, Curator: Hamidah Glasgow
2024 Red Dot Art Spree, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX
2024 Beyond Likeness, NOT REAL ART, Curator: Kirsten Bengtson-Lykoudis, link
2024 Summer Break, ICOSA, Austin, TX, Curator: Kevin Ivester
2024 Lathe, Mothership Studios, San Marcos, TX
2024 Undercurrent, Contracommon, Austin, TX
2023 Austin Studio Tour, Big Medium, Austin, TX
2023 Red Dot Art Spree, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX
2023 Bodies of Work III, RichesArt Gallery, Austin, TX
2023 Hot, Texas Summer, The Line, Austin, TX
2023 Ancestral Landscapes: Investigating Heritage and Home, NOT REAL ART, Curator: Kirsten Bengtson-Lykoudis
2023 40th Center Annual, Houston Center of Photography, Houston, TX, Curator: Lisa Volpe
2023 Hold Up Half The Sky, Dallas Center for Photography, Dallas, TX, Curator: Aline Smithson
2023 Lady Parts, Native Gallery, Austin, TX, Curators: Loria Mendoza & Lars Matilda
2023 Invasive Species, ICOSA, Austin, TX, Curators: Alexis Hunter & Jacqueline Overby
2023 Shore Art Excursion [FUSEBOX FESTIVAL], Future Front Texas, Austin, TX
2023 San Marcos Studio Tour, MotherShip Studios, San Marcos, TX
2023 We Learn The Rules In Order To Break Them: The 2nd Quanzhou International Image Biannual, Huaguang Photography Art Museum, Quanzhou, Fujian
2023 Conceptual Photography, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: Mark Sink
2023 un(SEEN), The Nesbitt Gallery, Chickasha, OK, Curator: Aunj Braggs
2023 Altered Images, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Juror: Lisa Volpe, link
2022 Pathways, Originator Studios, Austin, TX
2022 Metaphorical Community Gardens, Ani's, Austin, TX
2022 LATITUDE'S 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL, Curator: Asha Iman Veal
2022 Parallax - Women's Photography Exhibition, Gormley Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Curator: Liz Faust
2022 Feminist Biennial, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, Curator: Ashley Wynn
2022 Emerging Latinx Artists 26: Histories of Transformation/Historias de Transformación, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX, Curators: Isabel Cervantez, Luisa Fernanda Perez
2022 CCAN 2022: Center for Contemporary Arts National Juried Competition, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX, Curator: Colette Copeland
2022 Fuerza, Vesper, Austin, TX
2022 Latino Art WKND: Somos Libres, Distribution Hall, Austin, TX, Curator: Carmen Rangel
2022 Delivery Systems, Joseph Gross Gallery, Tucson, AZ, Curator: Lydia See
2022 Light Conversation: Vol 3, Oregon Contemporary, Portland, OR, Curators: Audra Osborne, Jennifer Timmer Trail, Kristy Hruska, and Marico Fayre (Small Talk Collective)
2022 Collective Rage, Strange Paradise Gallery, Portland, OR, Curators: Audra Osborne, Jennifer Timmer Trail, Kristy Hruska, and Marico Fayre (Small Talk Collective), link
2022 A Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA, Curator: Erin Dunn
2022 Through The Body, Light Art Space, Silver City, NM, Curator: Michael Puff
2022 What Freedom?, Stove Works, Chattanooga, TN Curator: Rainn Jackson
2022 This Reality - Group Show, Subject Matter x Repaint History x Art Girl Rising, Curators: Pegah Kargar, Liezel Strauss and Kitty Dinshaw
2022 Issue 157, Fraction Magazine -14th Anniversary Issue2021 GAZE, Arts to Hearts x All She Makes, Curator: Svitlana Martynjuk, link
2021 GAZE, Arts to Hearts x All She Makes, Curator: Svitlana Martynjuk
2021 What we’ve found: Generational Spirit, Aint-Bad, Curator: Toby Kaufmann, link
2021 Summer Show, The Curated Fridge, Curator: Michael Behlen, link
2021 $5 Video: A National Juried Exhibition, LHUCA, Lubbock, TX, Curator: Aaron Hegert
2021 Time Capsule, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA, Curator: Shamim M. Momin, link
2021 When Words Fail, Visionary Art Collective, Curator: Grace Lang, link
2021 School of Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition, TX State Galleries, San Marcos, TX, Curator: Christopher Blay
2021 Back to Abnormal, Texas State Galleries, San Marcos, TX
2021 Contemporary Practice ‘21, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
2021 Rising Eyes of Texas, Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport,TX, Curator: Rigoberto Luna
2021 Perpetual Impermanence, Gallery of the Common Experience, San Marcos, TX, Curator: Riley Taber
2021 small works - BIG TALENT, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2021 La Frontera: A New Latinx Lexicon, Humble Arts Foundation, Curator: Erick Guzman, link
2020 2020 All Women, J Mane Gallery
2020 Shop Texas, Presa House Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2020 Artopsy: Perceptions of the Body, Online Group Exhibition, San Marcos, TX
2020 US: What divides us and what unites us?, Touchstone Gallery, Washington DC, Curators: Kimberli Gant, Kristen Hileman, Frauke V. Josenhans, Miranda Lash, Karen E. Milbourne, Gabriel Ritter
2020 Women Artists Making Their Mark, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA, Curators: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray
2020 Sensibility: Revealed Truths, Tensions, and Vulnerability, Art Room, Fort Worth, TX, Curator: Taylor Barnes
2020 Third Coast Biennial, K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX, Curator: Rigoberto Luna
2020 TEXAS NOW Online Showcase, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX
2020 New Texas Talent XXVII, Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX, Curator: Giovanni Valderas
2020 Creative Distancing, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
2020 Truth, LBJ Student Center Gallery, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Brianna McDonald
2020 School of Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition, TX State Galleries, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Ed Schad
2020 Drowned Neon Rose, I Like Your Work Juried Show Winter 2020, Juror: Kristin Lamb, link
2020 Exploring Scale in Art, LBJ Student Center Gallery, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Brianna McDonald
2020 Moral Fiber, Gallery of the Common Experience, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Shannon Faseler
2020 41st Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ, Juror: Grace Graupe-Pillard
2020 35th Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas, Tyler, TX, Juror: Leslie Moody Castro
2019 Mix ‘n’ Mash, Mexicarte Museum, Austin, TX
2019 E.A.S.T. (East Austin Studio Tour), Studio Cube, Austin, TX
2019 Presence and Absence, Sabinal Gallery, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Austen Villacis
2019 First Come, First-Show, Mantle Art Space, San Antonio, TX
2019 The Fl3tch3r Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art, Reece Museum at East Tennessee University, Johnson City, TN, Juror: Sue Coe
2019 enGENDERing Change, Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adams State University, Alamosa, CO, Jurors: Alan L. Woods & Ann Alaia Woods
2019 Art as Advocacy: Promoting Equity and Social Justice for Women, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL, Jurors: Jan Brandt, Beate Minkovski, Patricia Olso
2019 Solo Show [Down], Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, TX, Juror: Christina Rees
2019 School of Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition, TX State Galleries, San Marcos, TX, Juror: Jenny Gheith
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
2023 Top Five: June 1, 2023, Invasive Species, Glasstire, June 2023, link
2023 Meet Austin's 2023 LINE Residency Artists, Glasstire, January 2023, link
2023 The LINE Residency 2023 Artist Announcement, Big Medium, January 2023, link
2022 Nonprofit hosts accessible digital photo processing and development laboratory in West Town, CBS Chicago, November 2022, link
2022 Life & Work with Chantal Lesley, Voyage Austin Magazine, November 2022, link
2022 Gallery Roundup: Alberto Cavalieri’s Have & Have-Not at Catalyst Contemporary, Parallax at the Gormley Gallery, and Abstraction at the C. Grimaldis Gallery, November 2022, link
2022 New Visionary Magazine: Issue 4
2022 One Year Later: The 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize Winners, July 2022, link
2022 Aeonian Magazine Issue #7 Interview, July 2022, link
2022 May 2022 Artist in Residence: Chantal Lesley, LATITUDE, May 2022, link
2022 How We See Ourselves, The Luupe, link
2022 A Photographer Contemplates Her Family's Cross-Cultural History "In The Midst of Nostalgia", Humble Arts Foundation, January 2022, link
2021 En Medio de la Nostalgia, Deep Red Press, October 2021, link
2021 Codifying a Multifaceted Identity: Chantal Lesley - En Medio de la Nostalgia, PhMuseum, September 2021, link
2021 Chantal Lesley: The Lenscratch 2021 Student Prize Winner Honorable Mention, July 2021, link
2021 The 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize: 26 Photographers to Watch, link
2021 New Talent Annual 2021, Graphis, link
2020 Glasstire: Five-Minute Tours: 2020 Third Coast Biennial at K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, link
2020 Photographer of the Day: Chantal Lesley, PhMuseum January 15, 2020
2020 For Women Who Roar: Body Issue
LECTURES, TALKS, & PRESENTATIONS
2025 Artist Talk: Every Crossing Leaves a Ripple, Sabinal Gallery, San Marcos, TX, February 13, 2025
2024 Artist Talk: Meaningful Disruption, Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR, November 19, 2024
2023 Fresh From The Studio, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX, September 7, 2023, link
2023 Artist Talk: Metaphorical Community Garden, Ani's, Austin, TX, February 23, 2023
2023 Rooftop Sessions, The Contemporary, Austin, TX, January 18, 2023
2022 Artist Walkthrough: Feminist Biennial, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, November 5, 2022, link
2022 ELA Conversations #1: Reimaginado Espacios / Reimagining Spaces, Mexic-Arte, Austin, TX, November 2, 2022, link
2022 Live Interview: Chantal Lesley, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, October 26, 2022
2022 Open Show Pasadena/East LA #43: "When the Students Become the Teachers" Hal Banfield, Chantal Lesley, Theo Godmann, Alejandra Moral, Pasadena Photography Arts, October 25, 2022, link
2022 Artist Talk: Chantal Lesley, Julia C. Butridge Gallery, Austin, TX, August 24, 2022
2022 Open Studio: Chantal Lesley, LATITUDE, Chicago, IL, May 20, 2022
2021 Artist Talk: Chantal Lesley, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, D.C. March 9, 2021
2021 Artist Talk: Perpetual Impermanence, Gallery of the Common Experience, San Marcos, TX, March 5, 2021, link
2020 Artist Talk: Chantal Lesley, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, D.C. September 18, 2020, link
2020 Artist Talk: Chantal Lesley, K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX September 5, 2020, link
COLLECTIVES
ICOSA Collective, Austin, TX
EXPERIENCE
2023 Assistant to Chad Rea, Lockhart, TX
2022 Assistant to Emily Eisenhart, Austin, TX
2020-2021 Photo Lab Monitor, Sabinal Gallery, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
2021 Astromaterials 3D Image Processing Intern, NASA, Houston, TX
2021 Assistant Gallery Preparator, Texas State Galleries, San Marcos, TX
2021 Assistant to Harry James Hanson, Legends of Drag, TX
2019 Assistant to Obsidian + Blush, Austin, TX