CATHERINEEATONSKINNER W W W
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C E S K I N N E R
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C O M
CAREER OVERVIEW: Images of previous exhibition / installations Resume Biography Statement
Kyugee IV, Bird Screen 102”h x 50”w x 12”d Tibetan paper, wax, red thread Kevin Barry Fine Art San Francisco Los Angeles Las Vegas
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE: 1816 SAN FELIPE CIRCLE
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87505 T 505 982 7447 E CESKINNER@ARTWORKINTERNATIONAL.COM
Azimuth, installation view 9”h x 12”w x .5”d each panel oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2019 Catherine Eaton Skinner Studio Seattle, Washington
On July 23, 2018, a flash flood swept through our Santa Fe property, a thunderous tsunami in a quiet valley. All the fences and gates were destroyed, washed downstream with animals, debris and boulders. Buildings and homes in its path were filled with mud. My work went from the universal to the personal, understanding that our presumed control over our environment had changed to a “new norm”. As a multidisciplinary artist committed to learning, I divide my time between studios in Seattle and Santa Fe. I work in beeswax, resin and oil, often incorporating stones, found objects, lead sheeting, precious metals, textiles, papers, glass and bronze. A constant thread in my work is the elemental archetypes of the physical and cosmic world: water; fire; woods, mountains and earth; air and wind; space and ether. In 2017 Radius Books published 108, my monograph focusing on 14 years of using this philosophically significant number. The new work maintains the same patterns of repetition echoing the basic components of our natural systems. Horizontal lines offer visual boundaries: sky and ocean with the simplicity of shadows and light; strata of earth walls with subtle seeps of water; pathways in quiet snow. The work vibrates between opposites: marks of delicate tracery against heavy incising; smooth melted wax confronted by textured oil stick; reversal of colors with reflections of metal leaf. When the line turns to vertical, stacking lines then parallel the continual seismic wavelengths of the earth’s movements and our personal heart rhythms. They repeat the microcosms of forests. Lines become the walls and fences of the volatile systems of existence in which we are living. The gates become the escape from our unstable world. My work hopes to link us to the anima and earth: seeing with open eyes; cherishing the waters that ensure our survival. Our cultural memory lies within the physicality of place as we continue to find ways to understand and bond not only to our environment, but most importantly, to each other. Catherine Eaton Skinner, 2020
Reiteration, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2018 Abmeyer+Wood Fine Art Seattle, Washington
Reiteration, installation view II Abmeyer+Wood Fine Art Seattle, Washington
Hozho, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2016 Mill Contemporary Santa Fe, New Mexico
Teelun, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2016 Abmeyer+Wood Fine Art Seattle, Washington
Sindura, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2015 Santa Francisco Gallery San Francisco, California
Tashi Delek, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2012 Friesen Gallery Sun Valley, Idaho
Tashi Delek, installation view solo exhibition oil, encaustic on panel, mixed 2012 Friesen Gallery Sun Valley, Idaho
Catherine Eaton Skinner, Biography
Artist Catherine Eaton Skinner’s work is centered on the balance of opposites, as well as methods of numerical systems and patterning we use to construct an order to our world. Thus, much of her art encompasses intriguing repetition and multiplicity. Her art has depths of layers that affirm her desire to allow a work to be beautiful as well as spiritual. Her creative sensibilities and stimuli are owed in part to growing up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States surrounded by the fresh and salt waters, majestic mountains and old growth forests. She received her BA in Biology from Stanford University while simultaneously studying painting with Bay Area Figurative painters Nathan Oliveira and Frank Lobdell. Working 20 years as a biological illustrator, Skinner specialized in the ecological integration of marine invertebrates and algae of the Pacific Coast. She presently divides her time between her studios in Seattle and Santa Fe, working as a multidisciplinary artist: painting, encaustic, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Drawn to marking methods that have been used by peoples and even some animals to indicate presence and construct a deeper relationship to place and nature, Skinner moves from the simplicity of tantric forms to the complexities of grids. She reflects, "We live in a world where it may be difficult to feel a part of the whole, but we continue trying to find ways to connect to place and to each other." Her various series of works give expression to her journeys through many cultures over the years. Skinner’s monograph, 108, published by Radius Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, showcases twelve years of her work in which she pursued a deep investigation of this symbolic sacred number, using repetition in multiple explorations. Her artwork is also included in Art of Discovery: Exploring a Northwest Art Collection, the cover art of Others Will Enter the Gates, Speak For the Trees and four marine wildlife and biology books. Unleashed, published by the University of Washington Press in conjunction with the Woodland Park Zoo, portrays her passion for animals and her relationship among them.
Over 100 publications (magazines, newspapers) have highlighted her work in feature articles and/or cover art work, including LandEscape Art Review (London), Artists on Art, Magazine 43 (Berlin, Hong Kong, Manila) XI Draconis Books, Saatchi Art’s "The Women-Only Edition of Invest In Art - Women's History Month,” Blink Art, Contempo Annual, io Literary Journal, The Woven Tale Press, Apero, art ltd. and the New Mexico Bar Bulletin. Skinner has had 39 solo exhibitions at, among others, Waterworks Gallery, Friday Harbor, Washington; Abmeyer + Wood Fine Art, Seattle, Washington; Radius Books, Santa Fe, New Mexico; The San Francisco Gallery, San Francisco, California; Gallery Saoh & Tomos, Tokyo, Japan; and an upcoming show at The Grace Museum, Abilene,
photo credit: Suzanna Westhagen
Texas. Her work has been in numerous group exhibitions in museum and galleries, including the Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom; Marin MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), Novato, California; Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico; The City of Santa Fe Arts Commission Community Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Japanese Handmade Paper Museum, Tokushima, Japan; and the Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Montana. Public collections include the Embassy of the United States, Tokyo, Japan; Boeing Corporation, Seattle, Washington; Henry Art Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington; Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington; Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington; and Seattle University’s Seeds of Compassion Collection, Seattle, Washington.
Catherine Eaton Skinner Studio - Santa Fe, New Mexico