Lungi Kam XV

Catherine Eaton Skinner

Lungi Kam XI

Catherine Eaton Skinner

Artist’s Statement

On July 23rd of 2018 a 10’ flashflood swept through the Tesuque watershed, a tsunami in our quiet valley, washing downstream animals, debris and tumbling boulders. My work went from the universal to the personal, understanding that our presumed control over the environment had evolved to a “new norm.” I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, my backyard, old growth forests, freshwater lakes, farmland and the Puget Sound. I now work and write between studios in Seattle and Santa Fe, places where people honor this earth.

Archetypal elements mark the landscape, standing as vestiges of time, acknowledging pathways with marking, erasing and renewal. Water, earth, wind, fire and ether emerge in physical form in my work: beeswax and resin; graphite and oil stick; wood, paper and cloth; glass and stone; lead sheet, wire, textiles and metal leaf. This allows a flexibility, complexity and congruity to the work with an awareness of the universal sacred space.

Within these bodies of work, I often use the repetition of the number 108 which has powerful meanings, especially in Eastern traditions. Repetition used as a practice allows for my focus leading to an inner center of quiet. Simplicity comes with the commitment to this ritual of patterns.

The historical reverence for the power and sacredness of earth spans the timeline of our cultural memory. We live in a chaotic world where it is difficult to feel a part of the whole with the loss of control and balance: personally, politically and spiritually. If we become still and silent, we feel the four winds and the sky. We are then one with our kin of the past, the present and the future. Hopefully we will continue to find ways to understand and bond, not only to our environment, but most importantly, to each other.

About the artist