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Repository 235: Changing Patterns
On the eve of my daughter’s graduation, big launch, and leaving the family nest, I am in a proud moment of grief and growth. I am feeling the most unusual mix of emotions. As always, art is my salve. Preemptively grieving last winter I was looking at a recent series of work by Colin Kippen. The work centers on disposable banal objects turned into brute, cement, permanent, and un-budging objects attached to the walls of a coffee shop in Portland….
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Repository 224: The Flower, The Witch and the Pool Toy
Below is my artist statement for the exhibition I will have in Portland in March. Please save the date for the opening, and come say hi! Saturday, March 7, 2020, 6-8 PM, Luke’s Frame Shop (Albina Street location) The Flower the Witch and the Pool Toy: New work by Catherine Haley Epstein Her language does not contain, it carries; it does not hold back, it makes possible. When id is ambiguously uttered-the wonder of being several-she doesn’t defend herself against…
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Repository 185: Michelle Grabner on Boredom and Inclusiveness | Disjecta Biennial 2016
This past Summer Disjecta, a small non-profit artist space in Portland, Oregon, announced that Michelle Grabner would curate the Portland2016, their version of the area’s biennial. This evening Ms. Grabner had a public talk and QA session at the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts as part of PNCA’s 2015-2016 Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies Visiting Artist Lecture Series. I’ve written previously about Ms. Grabner’s achievements to date, specifically about the irony of the “anti-curator” returning full circle to…
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Repository 81: Serious Scents in the Land of Make Believe
Perfumer Josh Meyer’s concoctions are the stuff of legend, Imaginary Author legends specifically. After reading about him, smelling his fragrances in some Portland boutiques, and learning we had mutual friends, I jumped at the opportunity to meet him. I have a long personal history with fragrance. As a child when my bedroom doubled as a guest bedroom for my grandmother on her visits, the smell of her skin creme (circa 1980s Lancôme) was so special to me I wouldn’t let…
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Repository 72: Art, Weaving and Words
‘Minamal’ – a typo created when writing notes for Diane Jacob’s recent overview of her work, “Comb Over” in Portland, Oregon. I realize the new word I created is a combination of the word mammal and minimal. This actually describes Diane’s works in this show to a tee – she has taken the most simple elements that define us as mammals, human specifically, hair and language and prepared some quiet yet complex pieces that stir loudly in the mind. These…
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Repository 11: Kara Walker at Reed College
“You should definitely stay and try to talk to her after the reception….she’s only three years older than you…and she went to RISD”. These are kind and encouraging words from my husband regarding the lecture I am attending this evening with Kara Walker. While I appreciate the idea of talking to her, I am an introvert and more shy than a snail on my toddler’s finger. My response to him, “I won’t have anything to say.” Which is pure baloney,…
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