works on paper — Blog

Laguna de Santa Rosa (linocut monotype and letterpress on mulberry paper) by Tiana Krahn for Watershed Moment postcard

Join the Laguna Foundation for the opening of Watershed Moment, a new exhibit from North Bay Letterpress Arts. Featuring original works by local letterpress printers—some in collaboration with poets—the show pairs words and visuals to celebrate the unique beauty of the Laguna de Santa Rosa. It also explores the creative interplay of language, image and nature using handmade papers, materials from the Laguna and letterpress and other printing techniques.

The exhibit is on display from

SAT. SEPTEMBER 6 - DECEMBER 19th

Laguna Foundation Gallery

900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa.

OPENING RECEPTION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 3-5 PM.

Is_2

Is_1

Folded Wing

For this exhibit I have explored crumpling as process and form using the words of two poets, judi goldberg ( Is1 & Is2 ) and Elizabeth Herron ( Folded Wing ). Three of the four artworks exhibited are featured above.

More about crumples and crumpling: Crumple: A strong complex shape that resembles a rock and its textures of nooks, crevasses, cracks, edges and breaks. Crumple crumpling is also a gesture. I have been exploring both in these abstract artworks. What you see are prints from crumpled papers and crumpled words of poets, judi goldberg & Elizabeth Herron.

A crumple, a carrier of hands’ work, works my hands, crushing, kneading paper, rocking to from back and forth, squeezing compressing again again pressing against a resistant surface feeling like I am destroying the material with thoughtless gestures.

I am no more an artist in control. I am participating in an experience that is happening with a result beyond me—a thing of its own, something else, as is. It’s mysterious. Physicists are still trying to understand its nature. It’s haphazard. I don’t know what to to expect. With each crumple repeated a unique form emerges.

The material collapses upon itself from a two-dimensional shape to a three-dimensional textural object. This gesture activates a shift, altering a perception of the material and what it was. A displacement of sorts. Perhaps a destructive and transformative process that uncovers other possibillities for seeing.

It’s similar to how the earth’s crust crumples as it occurs in volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, glaciation, changing climate—forming mountain ranges, scree, even watersheds—a different landscape continually reassembling, reordering itself to another unfinished state. Crumpling is a way of aligning with the forces of the earth and the unpredictability of life itself.

PROCESS IN ACTION; MAKING & PERFORMING IN THE GALLERY

I will be performing the craft of “cutting” in the garden room at Hammarfriar gallery on selected Fridays. Come watch how I make these objects using a particular part of a book cover. As the title of the exhibit suggests, The Edge Knows.

Friday afternoons, 1 - 3:30: February 7 & 28 March 21 April 4 & 18

I will also be in residence for Healdsburg’s Second Saturday Art Walk March 8, 5:30 - 7:30

Maybe - an installation by Brooke Holve The performance will take place in the garden room where the installation, Maybe is displayed. I will be demonstrating the craft of cutting, the process used to make this work. Initially named Particulate Particularity, I renamed this piece after installing it. Knowing that it was unfinished it made sense to me to continue working on it during the duration of the show. After installing, however, I wondered whether it was finished in its unfinished state, hence Maybe. The intent of the performance has now shifted. I will be finishing in a way to keep it unfinished.

OTHER CONVERSATIONS:

**A conversation between our artwork** Left: *A Gap in the Story* (Catherine Richardson). Right: *Gesture_ing* & *Crag Cuts* (Brooke Holve).

STATEMENT

Catherine: Working with Brooke is a constant source of inspiration. Her playful approach to language, meticulous craftsmanship, and patience complement my own creative process in unique and exciting ways.

Our collaboration is deeply rooted in shared experiences at artist residencies in Seydisfjordur, Eastern Iceland on an edge of a fjord, facing the confluence of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans; the other in Ballinskellig, southwest Ireland, on a windswept peninsula jutting out on the edges of the Atlantic. During month-long residencies in each location, we immersed ourselves in these wild, untamed environments, engaging with and witnessing the powerful geological forces that shape the region.

Brooke: I met Catherine during a residency at Lucid Arts in Inverness, California. Although we participated in the solo residency a year apart, we first encountered each other’s work at a residency event. I was immediately drawn to her experimental approach, involving a wide variety of materials and processes—frozen inks, erratic splashes, random arrangements—a freedom that was captivating. She played with natural processes, constantly asking “What if?” and embracing the uncertainty of where those questions might lead. Her process resonated deeply with my own approach to making—one of exploration and discovery into the unknown.

Our experiences at these residencies sparked many conversations throughout our collaboration. Conversations between us, between our work and about the actively changing landscapes around us. We observed and discussed the natural processes that shape a region, the unfinished nature of landscapes, and our unique practices of making, unmaking, remaking. Above all, we focused on process over immutable form. This exhibition reflects the essence of these ongoing conversations.

We’re both fascinated by edges, rocks, and geology—though we’re not entirely sure why. There’s something profoundly captivating about the earth’s ancient, primal forces. This geological phenomena with all of its unexpected upheavals, serves as a gateway to a deeper connection and engagement with the earth itself.

PROCESS IN ACTION; MAKING & PERFORMING IN THE GALLERY

OTHER CONVERSATIONS:

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