ARTIST STATEMENT
Stacking, gathering, mounding, bundling…all words that speak to accumulations. There are stone stacks, sea stacks, wood stacks, haystacks and book stacks. Years leave rings stacked around the beginning core of seedling trees. Time leaves the earth with horizontal strata of various sediments as well as the vertical repetition of mineral laden seeps. Horizontal lines present the boundaries between sky and distant mountain elevations. Water ripples outward in lines of dark versus light, a cadence of reflection.
I work as a multidisciplinary artist out of two studios, Seattle and Santa Fe. The five archetypal elements of water, earth, wind, ether and fire interplay in my sculpture, paintings, printmaking, and photography. The materials I use reflect these elements: beeswax and resin; graphite and oil stick; wood, paper, threads, and cloth; glass, bronze, and stone; lead sheet, wire, precious metal leaf and found objects.
Photographs taken in my travels have focused on repetition and patterning: antique books, cardboard piles, wrapped objects, continuous marks on walls and ground. The Stacks series began with photographs of the freshly printed pages at EBS Press in Verona for my book 108. As the new pages amassed on the pallet before trimming, the edges became marked with color and shades from black to white. Accumulations originated with a fascination of the fore edge of books, the side not normally seen as it faces the wall of a bookshelf. Often in antique books these pages may be uneven, deckled, gilded and stained by years of use.
We have a historical reverence for the power and sacredness of earth. But we live in a chaotic world, where it is difficult to feel a part of the whole: personally, politically and spiritually. If we become still and silent, we feel the four winds and the sky. We can then integrate past, present and future. Hopefully, we will continue to find ways to understand and bond, not only to our environment, but most importantly, to each other.
Catherine Eaton Skinner’s creative sensibilities stem from growing up in the Pacific Northwest, receiving her Bachelor of Arts and Science from Stanford University; including instruction from Bay Area Figurative painters, Nathan Oliveira and Frank Lobdell. With over 40 solo domestic and international exhibitions, Skinner has been included in numerous group exhibitions. Presently Branigan Cultural Center in Las Cruces, NM, exhibits her solo exhibition Illumination: Crows & Ravens. Public collections include Tacoma Art Museum; Seattle University, Seeds of Compassion; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington; Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe; Museum of Northwest Art; Swedish Orthopedic Institute; Virginia Mason Medical Center; Seattle Children’s Hospital. Skinner has also participated in the U.S. Art in Embassy program, Tokyo and Papua New Guinea. Her monograph 108, published by Radius Books, documents her investigation of this symbolic number over 14 years using multimedia.
Further information may be found at her extensive website: ceskinner.com
On exhibit at Summerlin Library from July 21, 2022 through October 4, 2022
Monday: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
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