Chinn’s method to create her art is an abundance of meticulously applied layers of paint. “My painting technique and my iconography are both very layered. In painting, I must apply quite a number of layers of acrylic paint, sometimes in light washes, to create the kind of texture, color and light I desire.” 

This form of layering is similar to a large group of artists who call themselves “Layerists”.  The Society of Layerists in MultiMedia was founded in 1982 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since that time, chapters have sprung up across the southwest and as far away as Mexico and England. This society not only uses the layering process in painting, but in the use of materials, textures, artifacts and sculpture. The society feels that layering creates a series of emotions with the application of each layer.

There is a definite spiritual essence to the genre, and some artists consider their work to be holistic in its ability to evoke strong and subtle reactions in the viewer. “Layering as an approach to creative expression recognizes the many dimensions that shape an artist’s sense of personal growth and achievement. It articulates a procedure that is equally additive and subtractive as it reaches for completion and authenticity. It also brings in focus how many strata of the mind one actually taps during the process of conceiving, nurturing and refining a creative idea or product. The term layering, when used metaphorically, can explain the mind’s search for both personal and communal meaning. It lends itself easily to an interdisciplinary mindset that draws connections between all domains of knowledge while blurring the edges of traditional media of expression. Essentially, it honors the human quest to reach beyond boundaries to make sense of our human condition. Like the two-faced Roman god Janus, the artist looks both forward and backward in charting his or her own journey in time and space.” ⁴ 

I am interested if Chinn agrees with the above quote, and give her further details about the art form labeled as "Layerist":  "Most of these artists use techniques similar to yours in the creation  of their work -- digital sketching, photography, and the use of artifacts and props to set the stage for their final piece. Some paint the piece, as you do, others layer the actual artifacts and such to become part of the median. Do you consider your work in the same realm?" 

Chinn considers this description of the work of layerists and comments:

"I am not familiar with the label of “Layerist” but I am intrigued that there is actually something about the technique in published form⁴."  

From your description, I think this aptly suits my methodology as a painter. My symbolism is also layered in multiple readings. For those "unfamiliar" with the territory of my genre or iconography, some cultural excavation may be required. I suppose I consider myself spiritual but not in a particularly “orthodox” sense. That is, I do not subscribe to any particular organized religion or philosophy but I do I have a sort of intuitive belief in a spiritual realm that speaks to intangible things, ideologies or ways of being. "

Chinn methodical approach in creating a piece is documented on the Queer Culture Center website. The layering concept described in the creation of the piece “Before the Wedding”, has parallels to the layerist theory. The portrait is of Kim Anno and her partner Ellen Meyers. The process begins with Chinn researching various “props” to add to her idea that the portrait be one which combines  “Asian aesthetic and iconography”with Western European compositional ideas. Her research goes on digital sketches, writings of her moods toward the proposed piece, with trips to find Asian cultural artifacts, clothing, personal items of the couple, and finally a series of photographs with the couple in various seating positions. Chinn actually sets a stage for the pictures, duplicating the ancient Asian art form of portraiture, but re-inventing it with her signature style. Once Chinn decides on which photograph or combination of photographs to use, she then begins sketching out the piece on canvas. Chinn’s works are not only large in their political and emotional statements, but they are also quite large in size. "Before the Wedding" is 66’’ x 44’’, an imposing size that demands attention. Chinn explains: “I believe scale is important to the presence of a work of art. In the construction of my compositions the angle or perspective of each image, as well as its size, is an important aspect of the viewing experience. Thus the content of my work has an immediacy that cannot be ignored.”

While Chinn's work is categorized as realism, Kim Anno, artist and former portrait subject, catagorizes her work as "transgressive". This description is another example of the many ways Chinn's work is beyond the pigeon hole that genre artists may fall prey to.Chinn's blending of lesbian activism, ethnicity recognition, and political/social commentary are the basis of most of her work. I asked Chinn if she agreed with Anno's terminology:

"...while the style or format of my work is quite familiar and non-threatening, allowing a kind of accessibility to an arts going public, the subject matter is not so universally “accepted” and in that sense I do agree with Anno’s assessment that it has a transgressive quality. It does seek to go beyond the limits imposed by a larger society in which we must negotiate our lives."

This transgressive approach is explored further in Chinn's newest work "Kindred Spirits". The story behind the new piece starts out as simply curiosity of old Asian marionettes, but is emerging as an innovative and ingenious statement of the dramatic Asian use of gender:

"While I tend to focus my attention on a particular genre, seldom are two compositions alike. My current piece is almost theatrical in nature and in a sense, an evolutionary leap from my last two canvases, “Bing” and “Before the Wedding.” It is an image of seven Chinese puppets, specifically, marionettes, hung rather informally from a Chinese folding screen. They are the sort of cultural artifacts which survived the rigors of the Cultural Revolution, squirreled away by families who possessed these “bourgeois” works of art. I found them fascinating and theatrical but they are difficult to render because of their detail. This current work in progress, evolved as many of my projects do, by happenstance. I lost a friend to complications of MS last year. She was an old high school pal who at one time was a dancer and visual artist. She spent at least the last 10 years of her life wheelchair bound and almost totally blind. 

For many years she had shared the adventures of her sister, who was a flight attendant for some of the major airlines which traveled to Asia. On some of these excursions this sister would visit local flea markets and pick up folk crafts such as these marionettes. She now has over thirty puppets, many created by the same artist and probably over a hundred years old each.

When I went to help the sister deal with my friend’s estate, I saw many of the artifacts I had heard about, including these puppets. I was so drawn to them that I had to take a picture. I often carry a digital camera with me so I took several. And when I saw them on screen in my computer I was inspired to recreate one of these images on canvas.

Perhaps it was my friend’s voice or maybe it’s my age, but I was compelled to capture this image. I have entitled this piece, yet to be completed, Kindred Spirits. It may be too subtle for the larger public to see a gay or lesbian theme. Most of my works, unless they portray a gay or lesbian couple in embrace, completely fly over the heads of straight audiences, in my experience. If there is anything to be gleaned in this regard I would have to say it is the gender bending recreations in another art form, which display women and men, or women playing men, or vice versa. If you know anything about Chinese opera or these productions of puppetry, there is a lot of that going on. Currently there is quite an audience for this art form (Chinese opera) among lesbians and gays in Asia."

Whether Chinn's are is realist or layerist, the fact is her work has more going on than it's methodology--it has the layers of history that define Chinn: activist, lesbian, artist, writer, public speaker, humanitarian, innovator, an individual of color, and a leader in human rights.