Artist Statement
A base of my work remains in a love of drawing, how drawing informs print as well as gesture and individual quality of line. Printmaking, its histories, technologies, and opportunities, continue to fascinate, inspire, and serve to define me as an artist. My pursuit of a career as a printmaker led to becoming a master printer, which defines me also.
Reminiscence or longing are underlying elements of much of my work and trying to capture moments or experiences through the language of printmaking is an ongoing goal. Although my thought process often looks back, immediate observation is essential, too. Beauty, poetic layers and acknowledging the wonderful and confounding parts of our natural world is key.
Tangled vegetation, nets, fences, and fractured shapes are part of these constructed and printed landscapes – both reflecting human activity and echoing my thoughts regarding complex events in our world. By constructing tangled images ranging from invasive plant species to blown tumbleweeds, the knots and tangles work both as a process of drawing and as metaphor, reflecting the time it takes to sort out one’s thoughts.
About the artist
Catherine Chauvin examines landscape and human interruptions of landscapes, creating works that incorporate traditional and experimental printmaking processes.
Chauvin is a professor at the University of Denver. After earning an MFA at Syracuse University, she trained at the Tamarind Institute and has collaborated with artists such as Gladys Nilsson, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and William Wiley in New Mexico, Texas and Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. Experience as a collaborative printer and artist combine in several ways in her artwork and teaching. Residencies in Arenys de Munt (near Barcelona, Spain), Norfolk Island (near New Zealand), Oregon and Wyoming have allowed her to develop bodies of work based on landscape.
Contact: cathchauvin(gmail)
