Catherine Mackey

Artist Statement

My work is about the urban experience. The old and abandoned buildings which can be found in most major urban centers hold a particular fascination for me. The utilitarian architectural style employed in these buildings offers a simple honesty refreshingly devoid of the decorative trickery of residential and commercial structures. Their story is told not with stick-on accessories but by the scars of past retrofits and the accumulation of paint, sign writing, posters and graffiti. The beauty which results from these layers of history is inadvertent and often surprising.
This visual honesty and simplicity extends to the smaller scale artifacts of the urban environment: fire hydrants, hand-painted signs, public phones, sliding hooks outside a commercial laundry, and bicycles – all of these have featured in my work.
My body of work could be described as visual urban archeology, documenting the effects of the interaction of people with their built environment.
The paintings which result from my enjoyment of the urban tapestry are often structural assemblages of pre-painted panels depicting color, texture, signage and architectural proportions. This patchwork multi-panel technique reflects the visual fragmentation and rhythm of the city around me.