mindmarrow

September 13, 2015 Repository 181: Last Call on Forgetting | Review | Final Viewing Reception Posted In: community, contemporary art, exhibition of note

Catherine Haley Epstein, installation photo of "On Forgetting | Filling the Flask", photo courtesy of Ann Ploeger

Catherine Haley Epstein, installation photo of “On Forgetting | Filling the Flask”, photo courtesy of Ann Ploeger

A brief announcement and generous review below of my exhibit up in Portland. We will be having a closing reception on Sunday, September 27 from 11-1 PM at Pushdot Studio (2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104) if you are available. Thank you to all the friends and strangers who explored this dialog on forgetting.

Meanwhile a special thank you to Daniel Leng, the founder of Point + Line, who looked generously at the show a couple of weeks ago. If you haven’t checked out the Point + Line community that requires discussion over thumbs up, please join in! My show in his kind words below, also found here on the Point + Line forum:

“I recently had the pleasure of seeing, smelling, and feeling Catherine’s work in person for the first time at Pushdot Gallery in Portland, in a solo show entitled ON FORGETTING. The show was packed with thoughtfully conceived and impeccably executed experiences, a wonderful exercise for the mind and senses. More on HERE for anyone interested.

The piece shown here, “Never Forget…” grabbed me immediately from across the room. At about 3×4 ft in size, I stood at about 8 feet away from it to start, looking at a crowd of faces “view this viewer”, picturing myself in that crowd viewing myself, wondering what these people were looking at in reality and what was to happen next… an intriguing thought exercise, especially in the context of the title and the theme of “forgetting” presented in the show.

Walking towards the work, my mind drifted towards the the artist herself, and her relationship with both the people depicted and the physical canvas itself. What’s hard to see in the images of Catherine’s work online is the amount of expression in each line on the canvas. The brushwork is varied and confident in each stroke. Be it gentle or strong, I felt as though each touch on the canvas was an honest attempt to touch the subjects themselves, not just render parts of a whole image in an analytical exercise. It occurred to me that Catherine’s line connects me, the artist, and this subject together in a new way… a very human way… and that is the strength of her work.

I’m not sure that makes sense when I try to explain it. I’m actually still trying to process it in my mind, but suffice it to say that I was very moved by this piece both intellectually and emotionally. If anyone has the chance to see Catherine’s work in person, go and do it. Just know that you might come out the other end of the experience with more questions and feelings than answers.” – DANIEL LENG

2 Comments

  1. Daniel Leng • September 17, 2015

    Thanks for the shout out. It's an honor to be quoted on your blog. Been wonderful to engage with your work and with you in the discussion. Hope all is well with you and your family. - D Reply


Would you like to share your thoughts?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: