Like every artist around the world, this year has been a challenge. On the other hand "we" have discovered new ways to work. New ways to communicate. And new ways to express what's going on with ourselves and the world. I have always been influenced by my environment. That isn't just the geography of my neighbourhood. It includes what I see, what I can hear, what I smell and what I am experiencing as a whole. It is immersive. And now that includes our common, shared experience of this worldwide pandemic. My hubby says, "PANdemic means worldwide, stop saying, Worldwide!" But it just feels right to say the word WORLDWIDE. It brings home the magnitude of the situation. So, YES, my work this past year has been influenced, guided and molded by the pandemic (notice, no worldwide word was used here). A few images below will explain part of that journey. The titles may explain what each of these early small works are expressing. "The Path We've Been On!" clearly shows our wavy path on the murky ground of uncertainty. Fluid, dark but with moments of brief sparks of hope. Remember how we thought IT was over last summer? "Safely Inside" depicts our retreat back to our homes to keep ourselves safe. Last summer this was the ONLY way to feel and be safe. "One More May Enter" reminisces about that time when we were forming, selecting and enjoying our limited circles of family and friends hesitantly opening our doors to people one at a time but still keeping everyone at a socially "comfortable" distance.
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Catherine Gutsche
I am preoccupied by the intuitive journey that paint takes me on with its colour and texture when working with layers that can be revealed through scratching back, rubbing away or lifting, to bring back the history of the previous layers. Archives
April 2023
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