Catherine Howe: Recent Works

C AT H E R I N E H O W E

RECENT WORKS

Cover Image: Mica Painting (Marigold), 2018 Acrylic and interference mica pigment on canvas 84 x 60 inches

CATHERINE HOWE RECENT WORKS: MICA PAINTINGS REVERSE PAINTINGS MONOPRINTS 2014 - 2018 WILLIAM SHEARBURN GALLERY

STATEMENT The paintings are process-based while retaining an affinity with observed subject matter. The newest paintings resemble still life, for instance. I start with historical references, including Dutch flower painting, botanical illustrations, and American post-war abstraction. Eventually, feeding on these sources no longer sustains me and I somehow emerge, painting more spontaneously and trusting my own hand. I leave a trail, in the fluid; effervescent materials, a kind of evidence that will remain. It is there to both describe familiar forms; a flower, or a goblet, and to lead me back to the original gestures within. Other muses seem inarticulate compared to the erotic language of nature.

I have been an artist who painted “figuratively� for so long that the figures are forever ensconced in my mind and guide my intentions. So my paintings will never be pure abstraction. All kinds of images will be straining to emerge and be understood.

Catherine Howe New York, 2016

MICA PAINTINGS

I work on a horizontal gessoed canvas surface with tools, both conventional and not. The multilayered surface starts with several coats of loose interference mica pigment suspended in acrylic resin poured and spread with a large knife. The overall image is then created with a mixture of pigment, moulding paste, and fibers, poured on and then manipulated with brushes and silicone tools.

Mica Painting (Caspar), 2015 Acrylic mediums and silver/gold interference mica pigment on canvas 48 x 60 inches

Mica Painting (Coolcat), 2016 Acrylic mediums and silver/gold interference mica pigment on canvas 60 x 48 inches

Mica Painting (Daisy-Face), 2016 Acrylic mediums and silver/gold interference mica pigment on canvas 72 x 60 inches

Mica Painting (Marigold), 2018 Acrylic and interference mica pigment on canvas 84 x 60 inches

REVERSE PAINTINGS

The folk art tradition of reverse glass painting inspired these pieces. The relief image, painting in absorbent acrylic and marble dust, or carborundum and gloss medium, is on the back of the heavy mylar sheeting. Oil color is then rubbed into this matrix, before the piece is completed.

Reverse Painting (Evening Coposition No. 3), 2014 Acrylic, molding paste, and oil reverse painted on polyester sheeting 83 x 40 inches

Reverse Painting (Evening Coposition No. 6), 2016 Acrylic, molding paste, and oil reverse painted on polyester sheeting 80 1/4 x 40 inches

Reverse Painting (Fuscia Bouquet), 2018 Oil and acrylic on polyester sheeting 84 x 48 inches

MONOPRINTS

Opera, 2016 Monoprint 40 x 26 inches

Peony, 2017 Monoprint 31 x 21 1/4 inches

Rosey, 2017 Monoprint 31 x 21 1/4 inches

www.shearburngallery.com 314.367.8020