It\'s Only (super)Natural

Honored to have Symmetries No. 1 & No. 2 shown in the University of Mississippi’s Art Department Gallery 130. It\'s Only (super)Natural is curated by Dixie Boswell.
143 Meek Hall, University of Mississippi
Feb 24th – March 21st , 2025
Reception Thursday, March 20th 4:30 pm

One in Sixteen

One in Sixteen

Per a 2016 study published in JAMA1, 1 in 16 fertility aged US girls’ and women’s first sexual encounter is either forced or coerced. Statistically, these women are more likely to experience unwanted pregnancy, abortion, STI’s, pelvic inflammation and mental health struggles including low self-esteem and difficulty making decisions. These issues can persist throughout their lifetimes. This artwork represents the statistic through six panels of recycled domestic textiles; an earth pigment figure, based on early Greek Cycladic forms, is appliquéd on each of the panels. Ten pattern pieces of the figure on tracing paper represent the 10 unfinished panels; these panels remain unfinished as the issue remains unresolved. The figure representing the woman/girl whose first sexual experience was forced or coerced is sewn onto a white linen background of hand-embroidered botanicals. Three plants are represented in this background, and each has been used by humans for centuries as either a contraceptive or abortifacient. Earth pigment from Mississippi is used to represent the figures. In the US, Mississippi ranks number 1 in prevalence of STIs per capita and is the state responsible for legislation that overturned Roe v. Wade, adversely affecting US women’s access to much-needed healthcare. The JAMA study raises an important question about responsibility and asks what socio-cultural changes need to happen to help shift this unsettling statistic. More directly, what changes need to occur in boys’ and men’s behavior to prevent sexual violence and alleviate this health crisis among US women? Also, what additional healthcare and educational measures can be put in place to support these women and girls?

1. Hawks L, Woolhandler S, Himmelstein DU, Bor DH, Gaffney A, McCormick D. Association Between Forced Sexual Initiation and Health Outcomes Among US Women. JAMA Intern Med. 2019;179(11):1551–1558. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.3500

ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC Mississippi State University Dept of Art New Faculty Showcase

Opening November 2nd, 2023 in the Visual Arts Center Gallery, ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC is an exhibition of recent work by the newest additions to the Department of Art faculty. Four artists, Catherine Jones, Aubrey Pohl, Kat Spears, and Jingshuo Yang will each exhibit in a room inside the Visual Arts Center Gallery.

The exhibition is open to the public November 2nd through November 21st. A reception is planned for Thursday, November 2nd, 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. in the Visual Arts Center Gallery.

The Visual Arts Center Gallery is open regular hours, Monday through Friday, 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Healing Henge: A Space for Complex Emotions

Healing Henge: A Space for Complex Emotions is a multi-media installation. This work evolved from research around the negative effects of stigmatization on people who have had abortions, particularly those in proximity to evangelical and fundamentalist religious beliefs. Qualitative sociological studies* have found that people who experience religious and socially based stigmatization because of their decision to end a problematic pregnancy encounter a lack of vital emotional support and lack spaces to process multifaceted feelings. These individuals often resort to silence as a coping mechanism to avoid the negative judgmental impacts of stigmatization. This silence further alienates them. Fabric panels embedded with earth pigment from the state of Mississippi create a Henge-like, semi-private form. A disco ball in the center of the space creates spiraling reflections of light cast by a projected image of the flower Queen Anne’s Lace. Queen Anne’s Lace has been used by people in the United States as a natural abortifacient for centuries and grows wild in Mississippi. The use of earth pigments from Mississippi and the reference to Queen Anne’s Lace are acts of reclamation: to reclaim people’s ability to choose reproductive autonomy and control over one’s reproductive health from the state whose litigation is responsible for blocking this right for millions of people in the United States. The henge, a neolithic, pre-Christian form, creates a sacred space for privacy, and healing from stigmatization and creates a supportive, non-judgmental space for community to grow. The space can be activated by dancing to release serotonin, by practicing yoga, by screaming to release anger or by sitting in quiet meditation. These are all activities known to reduce stress and regulate one’s nervous system. 

*1 Jonelle Husain & Kimberly Kelly (2017) Stigma Rituals as Pathways to Activism: Stigma Convergence in Post Abortion Recovery Groups, Deviant Behavior, 38:5, 575-595

2 Katrina Kimport, (Mis) Understanding Abortion Regret, Symbolic Interaction, Vol 35, #2, 105-118 (2012)

3  Kimberly Kelly, The Spread of ‘Post Abortion Syndrome’ as social diagnosis, Social Science & Medicine 102 (2014) 18-25

RED HOOK OPEN STUDIOS OCT 8-9 2022

Please join me for Red Hook Open Studios

461 Van Brunt Steet, Door 14, Studio #9

UNNATURAL HISTORIES

I am thrilled for my artwork, Late Cretaceous Embayment to be included in the October 2021 Gowanus Brooklyn exhibition Unnatural Histories. UNNATURAL HISTORIES in one of three interconnected exhibitions organized by ASSEMBLY REQUIRED (AR) that will take place in Gowanus during the month of October. AR is a collective of artists, writers, and curators who gathered during the height of the coronavirus pandemic to imagine the possibilities of mapping other futures. AR uses the transformative power of art to engage with local communities, reaching a shared understanding through multiple perspectives told through objects, stories, and experiences, gathering and assembling diverse visions of the past, present, and future.

Saturday, October 9th, 1 - 4 p.m
Saturday & Sunday, October 16 & 17, 12 - 6 (Arts Gowanus Open Studios Weekend)
Saturday, October 23, 1 - 4
Saturday, October 30, 1 - 4
or by appointment
Addresses:
Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse: 165 2nd Street (between Bond and the canal)
Artpoetica: 543 Union Street, 2B
Footnote: 543 Union Street, 1E

An Unofficial Gathering: Brooklyn College MFA Thesis Exhibition 20-21/ SMACK MELLON

Slope Striation
Earth Pigments, Found Fabric, Stretcher Bars
60” x 60” h (variable)
2021

Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo: Etienne Frossard.

CATALOG TEXT by curator Rachel Vera Steinberg

Catherine Jones makes paintings and drawings using earth pigments found in her home state of Mississippi. The pigments range from Selma Chalk, which is a layer of sediment from an area formerly part of the Gulf of Mexico—lighter in color due to its composition of shells and marine life—to red clay, derived from Maben soils that are rich in iron. She grinds these pigments into powders and then uses a brush or pallet knife to embed them into her canvases, creating color fields and studies that emulate warm, striated sunsets. 

Through her practice, she questions the ability to reconcile what has been taken from the earth with that which has been imposed upon it. Her works are rooted equally in methods of sustainability as well as the aesthetic operations of minimalism and abstraction--art movements that have entrenched histories of hierarchy. Mississippi, the bearer of the pigment-producing earth, is an integral part of the United States’ colonial and nationalistic project that has systematically removed the rights and histories of indigenous communities from the land. Using this specific earth, her work raises questions around the legacy attached to the land of her home state, acknowledging the combined power between history and property, and how beauty continues to rise through the surface of the planet. Ultimately, although she provides no concrete answers, through this work, Jones begins to trace pathways to regeneration and healing.

Plants in Captivity for Arts Gowanus Annual Fundraiser - May 9th 2019

This painting is your for the taking! Please join us for the Arts Gowanus annual fundraiser ArtWorks AND TAKE HOME ONE PIECE OF ORIGINAL ARTWORK!  Celebrate the arts and artists in the Gowanus area, all while supporting the critical mission of Arts Gowanus: to promote, support, and advocate for local artists and a sustainable arts community in the Gowanus neighborhood. Bring your fellow art lovers. Appreciate the artwork made by Gowanus artists. Enjoy drinks, delicious appetizers, and desserts. Meet artists and art lovers. And support the work of Arts Gowanus.

Tickets are limited - only 75 available. Buy your tickets now!

Please Note: This event is limited to participants 21 years old and up.

Click HERE for tickets!!

 If you can't make it to the event itself but still want to support Arts Gowanus, you can make a donation by selecting the donation option when clicking the 'Get Tickets' link above.

2018 Residency Exhibition - Trestle Projects & Gallery

I am pleased to announce that this painting Utopia vs. Extinction No. 2 will be on view during the Trestle 2018 Residency Exhibition. Curated by Carmen Hermo of the Brooklyn Museum, this exhibition includes work by over 60 artists who were in residency with Trestle Art Space.

Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 7-9pm
On View through December 12th

Trestle Gallery, 850 3rd Ave, Suite 411, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Utopia Vs. Extinction No. 2 / 2018 / India Ink, Acrylic & Oil Paint on Yupo Paper / 40 x 26” L

GOWANUS OPEN STUDIOS 2018

I will be participating in Gowanus Open Studios 2018
Please stop by for a studio visit and to see new works.

Sat + Sun, October 20 - 21
noon - 6pm

Trestle Art Space
62 18th Street / Studio #27

And - thank you to Todd Bienvenu for including me in his top 10 curated list of suggested studios to visit. What an honor!

SOUTH BROOKLYN OPEN STUDIO

MAKING OF THE STUDIO + OPEN STUDIO

JUNE 9TH & JUNE 10TH / 12 PM - 6PM
TRESTLE ART SPACE GREENWOOD
62 18th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(R - Prospect Av, B37)

SOUTH BROOKLYN OPEN STUDIOS

PLEASE JOIN ME SAT. JUNE 9TH & SUN. JUNE 10TH / 12PM - 6PM

OPEN STUDIO & STUDIO SALE.

Trestle Art Space Greenwood & Art Studios

62 18th St. Studio no. 27
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(R - Prospect Av, B37)

Recommended Reading

"Priority Mail" Ground Floor Gallery - SUMMER 2017

Showed (& sold) a 3D good vibrations painting in this fun, Summer group show at Ground Floor Gallery. Artnet recommended "to see in NYC" that week in July.

this is our HOUSE, this is our Rules - SPRING/BREAK Art Show

Curated by Dennis Dawson

Bill Bernstein
Jon Boles
Teke Cocina
Dennis Dawson
Kirsten Deirup
Jason Duval
Brock Enright
Sarah Hewitt
Catherine Jones
Alex McQuilkin
Dallas Rienschield
Dustina Sherbine
Michael St. John

VIP Vernissage: Tue, March 1st, 5-9pm
Fair Hours: 
Wed - Sun, March 2nd - 6th: 12-8pm
Mon, March 7th: 12-6pm

Location: 
Skylight at Moynihan Station #3105
421 8th Ave (Main Post Office Entrance)
New York, NY

More information at www.springbreakartshow.com
View artworks for sale at www.springbreakartfair.com

Contact sales@springbreakartshow.com for sales inquiries