Lungi Kam XVI, Encaustic, oil stick, graphite, archival print, 100% rag paper, panel, 40″x40″x2″. Courtesy/ARTWORKinternational INC
Albedo II, Encaustic, oil stick, linen on panel, 36″x36″x2″. Courtesy/ARTWORKinternational INC
COMMUNITY News:
- Skinner’s work has a depth of layers that matches her need to allow a work to be beautiful, as well as spiritual. —Art Reveal Magazine
Artist Catherine Eaton Skinner’s work centers on the balance of opposites and the systems and patterns we construct to give order to our world.
“The natural world holds an immense, intrinsic energy—an ancient equilibrium that sustains life,” Skinner explains of this body of work. “The historical reverence for this power and the recognition of earth’s sacredness spans the timeline of humanity’s memory. Yet, in today’s turbulent world, personal, political, and spiritual upheaval often leaves us feeling unmoored, making a sense of balance and control increasingly elusive. Staying connected—to nature, each other, and ourselves—has never felt more challenging. Through my work, I explore these connections, hoping to deepen our bond with the environment and, above all, our understanding of one another.”
Her latest solo exhibition, “The Earth is the Magnet of the Sky,” is open in Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library June 13-July 24, with an opening reception 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14, with a talk at 2:30 p.m. by Skinner.
Skinner divides her time between her studios in Santa Fe and Seattle and works in multidisciplinary media: painting, encaustic, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Play and experimentation are integral to her artistic process, leading her to engage with a multiplicity of materials and methods. Across these many mediums, Skinner’s work deftly demonstrates her core fascination: the natural world and its elemental archetypes.
“The five elements—earth, water, fire, air, and ether—run like a red thread through my practice, shaping my artistic language. Observing these five elements—sometimes from a macro level, sometimes micro—and how they interact allows me to explore new patterns and representations. These elements take shape conceptually through various materials: beeswax, resin, graphite, oil stick, stone, glass, lead sheeting, precious metal leaf, textiles, wood, natural materials, found objects, old book pages, and a variety of papers,” Skinner said of her life’s work.
Captivated by the traces we leave as living beings: fabric remnants, prayer flags, cairns, food offerings, paper objects, and even animal scratchings, “They speak to the universal desire for belonging in the greater chaos around us,” she continued, “I am drawn to gathering places of worship and natural sites of metaphysical power. My connection has been the investigation of humanity’s offerings and the patterns created in these sacred spaces.”
Her practice of mark-making and repeating primal forms acts as a dissolution of herself into the universal whole, both spiritually and artistically.
“At its core,” she said, “my practice is an act of optimism.”
Lungi Kam XIII, Encaustic, oil stick, graphite, archival print, 100% rag paper, panel, 40″x40″x2″. Courtesy/ARTWORKinternational INC
Kshanti I and II, Encaustic, oil stick on panel, 30″x30″x2″ each. Courtesy/ARTWORKinternational INC
Notes on the Artist:
Skinner’s work was recently selected for the Art in Embassies Program, U.S. Embassy, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 2020-2023, and Acclaimed Artists Series 2020-2022, Art in Public Places, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Notes on the artist: Recent exhibitions include: Clara M. Lovett Art Museum, Flagstaff, AZ; S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, University of North Carolina, Asheville, NC; International Art Museum of America, San Francisco, CA; Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA; Seattle Art Museum Gallery, Seattle, WA; Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR; Royal Block, Waitsburg, WA; The Rainier Club Gallery, Seattle, WA; Illuminations: Ravens, a 6-month, 6-city traveling exhibition through Missouri; Las Cruces Museums: Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces, NM; Summerlin Library, Museum and Performing Arts Center, Las Vegas, NV; Enterprise Library Museum, Las Vegas, NV; SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM; Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus, OH; Slocumb Galleries/East Tennessee State University; Royal Academy of Art, London; Wildling Museum of Art & Nature, Solvang, CA; Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA; Marin MOCA, Novato, CA; High Desert Museum, Bend, OR; Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT; Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX; Gallery of Art and Design, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS; The Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe, NM; Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY; and Japanese Handmade Paper Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Catherine Eaton Skinner at work in her studio. Photo by Suzanna Westhagen. Courtesy/ARTWORKinternational INC