Catherine L. Johnson
The Chandelier Drawings 2006
Mixed Media on 100% rag paper, mounted on frame
24 1/4″ H x 19 1/4″ W x 1 3/4″ D
Catherine,
Good afternoon.
My response to the two pieces:
The Chandelier Drawings 2006
and
he Pine Tree: BODY & SOUL 2011
on exhibition at the Prøve Gallery is two-fold.
Of the framed work- Pine Tree: BODY & SOUL,
it occurred to me to consider the piece as one of a series.
As a stand-alone, its graphics dominate.
As part of a group or series, other factors such as movement and time would come in to play.
The Chandelier Drawing, in accompaniment, suggests an intentional duality,
which again refer back to the graphics such as intricate lines
and
their spacial proximities,
as well as
solid singularity vs the verge of dissembling form.
In particular the pairing struck me as an illumination of the kinds of forces that exist below the acumen of the eye.
The appearance of solidity at a distance (represented by the Pine Tree: BODY & SOUL)),
while in fact multi-dimentional forces
within a motion/time period
(represented by the Chandelier Drawing) are acting upon matter
, vibrating too quickly
for the brain
to perceive.
That being the case, my read is that the nervous surface
and
vibrational rendering of the ‘The Chandelier Drawings’
(or what I would rather think of as a ‘fixture of light’ in space),
is more a matter of an encounter of forces
than a representation of an object per se.
As for my response to the materiality of the two works.
Clearly the framed PIne Tree: BODY & SOUL is reasonably conventional
in its construction and presentation,
whereas The Chndelier Drawings is riskier,
more temporal,
and
more organic,
thus appearing to be more invested
and
emotional.
Best,
Ken Bloom
Director of the Tweed Art Museum
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 
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