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Reviews |
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"In today’s currency-obsessed culture, commerce and artistic integrity are constantly at odds with each other. “Selling out,” “conflict of interest,” “transparency” and other capitalism-tinged catch words course through the art establishment, both as ethical concerns and content for artwork. As a result, the tangible qualities of commercial products often get overlooked in favor of their political connotations. Not so in Cathy Breslaw’s work. Breslaw takes the tactile trappings of the commercial world at face value, revealing ethereal and organic traits even in the most unspectacular, mass-produced materials. Industrial mesh acts as surface, texture and pigment in Breslaw’s recent wall works and installations. The mesh—a material often used for sifting, screening, lining, or fencing—always maintains a trace of its functionality. In Weightless, black abstract forms suspend in mid-air, their no-nonsense simplicity enhancing the effect of the bodily shadows they cast on the wall behind them. In Taking Flight, the unencumbered, multi-colored mesh recalls billowing tissue. Ebb and Flow, a luxurious green and orange wall work, twists, turns and folds in on itself as it if were the accidental masterpiece of an indecisive dress-maker. Nearly all of Breslaw’s sculptural works draw inspiration from playful, abstract drawings. The drawings, created on transparent paper, plastic or mesh, are sometimes embellished with thread or beading. They fixate on space and movement, imagining the world as one fluid web of interactions. In the process of transforming these two-dimensional sketches into three-dimensional forms, Breslaw switches her emphasis from movement to weightlessness and, as her work becomes more physical, it also becomes more ephemeral. Despite the mesh’s commercial connotations, its transparent lightness allows it to levitate in an uncanny gap between object-hood and airiness. Breslaw is not the first to push at the boundaries of traditional space. Donald Judd once called Yves Klein an “unspatial” artist and others, like Frank Stella and Morris Louis, spent their careers bucking the spatial confines of the picture plane. But Breslaw’s aspirations are more down-to-earth than those of artists who inaugurated color-field painting and celebrated minimalism. For her, the point of transcending conventional space is to seamlessly interact with the fluctuating world in which we live." Catherine Wagley, Art Writer, Los Angeles, CA “As an artist, Cathy has a knack for finding, in the
dumbest, unlovliest stuff, surprising beauty. She is also able to transform
overlooked items (like the synthetic nets that wrapped lemons and potatoes
at the supermarket) into works that say a lot about everyday life in the
global world. Either task would have been sufficient. Together they add
up to visual poetry that enriches and inspires.” “In her exhibition, “Color and Light”, Cathy
Breslaw takes a mundane material, and through layering, transforms it
into something truly imaginative and beautiful, subtly touching on the
concepts of globalization and femininity along the way. “ “Breslaw’s use of industrial fiber is intended
as a statement about wastefulness and global connectedness. …its
use as works of art is ecologically responsible; but Breslaw’s fusion
of painting, weaving and sculpture is first and foremost breathtakingly
beautiful. While she layers transparent mesh in subtle combinations that
seem to glow, her sense of color is exquisite.” ….opaque bars
and spikes (of color) creates piquant visual rhythms”. “She
has pushed beyond traditional techniques to reveal the latent beauty in
an aesthetically unpromising material, creating works that are deeply
resonant...An art critic once said ‘Art doesn’t have to do anything
except convince you that it is art’. For me, Breslaw’s gossamer
creations are convincing.” “Breslaw’s work appears to float gracefully on
the gallery walls and also emerges as organic elements from the floor.
Her work purposefully enters the viewer’s space to encourage us to
explore experiences from multiple perspectives.” “In transluscent wall works, California artist Cathy
Breslaw layers various manufacturerd materials to echo globalization and
the shrinking of what used to be a “big” world.” “Cathy Breslaw’s floor sculptures build solid
forms out of layers of transluscent, delicate cloth, forming romantic,
breezy objects that captivate with their unwieldy prettiness.” “Mesh and wire harmoniously form elusive tapestries
of light and colors in the Stevenson Gallery, University of Oregon.” “California based Breslaw adapts pieces of industrial
mesh in her abstract wall pieces, which provide ample opportunities for
bringing out the material’s sculptural and tonal qualities. The result
is alluring, and invites viewers to consider the interplay of color, pattern
and form.” “Cathy Breslaw’s art is made of industrial mesh
and wire…you’ll certainly forget once you lay eyes on the finely
crafted work of this California based artist, as her suspended sculptures
and floor pieces have about them a delicate, elusive, diaphanous beauty
that handily belies their mundane materials. “ “..certainly not the ordinary paint and canvas. Yet
the results are as compelling as any other expression in more common materials.
When properly lighted, the color variations throughout the material can
shimmer and radiate with a life all their own. These ordinary substances
now transcend their original commercial purpose in favor of something
new that takes on a nearly spiritual aspect.” “Close contemplation of Breslaw’s art pieces
reveal sophisticated mastery of materials. Weaving and manipulation become
painterly in her hands and works have somewhat a meditative effect with
subtle illusions to globalization.” “Breslaw’s work at first glance reflects fiber
art we ‘re accustomed to seeing in galleries, however upon closer
examination, the dissimilarity of materials and what has been done to
them, obviously separates her work from that traditional genre.”
“Even though they couldn’t be further from traditional
oils on canvas, Breslaw’s wall-hung compositions function like paintings.
In fact, her airy, loosely formed vertical striations on “Sounds
of Color” recall the color field paintings of American painter Morris
Louis. …..His peripheral ghosting effects (in Morris’s paintings)
is what Breslaw’s entire work achieves, enabled by the use of the
see-through mesh. Breslaw’s black wire mesh sculptures channel the
feminine quality seen frequently in prominent abstract sculptor Louise
Bourgeois’ work without the heft or her frequent allusions to violence.
Instead Breslaw’s works evoke the weightless quality of everything
from birds in flight to clouds to kites. Air is much more a part of the
form here than the material that shapes it, amplifying the delicacy of
the object even when its chief component is, indeed, an industrial-caliber
material.” “California artist Cathy Breslaw uses plastic mesh
and wire to create airy works – each is a beautiful celebration of
texture and light.”
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