Cat Crotchett
AQ is our series of hardcover catalogs celebrating extraordinary women artists. Available on Amazon. Visit the AQ Catalog Webpage to learn more.
AQ Volume IV artist Cat Crotchett has been painting and exhibiting her work for over 30 years. She earned BFAs in Painting and Art History from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MFA in Art from Bowling Green State University. Her current work uses abstract patterns in colorful compositions that engage in some form of conflict, reflecting our shared moment in American history, creative resilience, and transformative struggles.
Cat has been a regular presenter and instructor at the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and has taught painting workshops both in the United States and in Indonesia.
She has an extensive exhibition record that includes solo shows at Vanderbilt University, the University of Illinois Chicago, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and Barbaran Segaragunung Gallery in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Her work has been featured in numerous international and national group exhibitions, and she has received various grants and fellowships, including at the Golden Foundation for the Arts and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Cat’s work is housed in private and public collections, and she was the 2021 Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Western Michigan University. She is currently represented by Addington Gallery in Chicago, IL.
www.catcrotchett.com
What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you decide to commit to this path?
I know the moment! When I was around 4 years old, I loved to watch the TV show “Romper Room.” This show had a version in most major cities. At the end of the episode, the host of the St. Louis show, Miss Lois, would look in her “magic mirror” and say the names of kids she could see. Then she’d ask the audience to send her drawings with a particular theme – like crows, houses, or barns. I thought she could see me. I made drawings based on her prompts, and my older sisters helped me mail them. For each drawing I sent her, Miss Lois sent me a postcard with a picture of her and the children on the show. On the back of the postcard would be printed text with blanks for the child’s name and a blank for her signature. I still have those postcards. They hang over my office door at work.
Could you share the story or concept behind your recent work?
My paintings have focused on pattern for years. It’s how I translate the world. During the 2020 presidential race, the purpose of my patterns changed. I started using the same pattern in a painting but changed the colors. This was a way of symbolizing the similarities and differences within my family and in the country. I use pattern and color as a metaphor for human emotions and experience. For me, these paintings represent an intersection of information. The patterns and colors inhabit spaces that are similar, but not the same – suggesting multiple perspectives in the same composition.
My primary medium is encaustic paint. I love the fact that it dries as soon as air touches it, and that light moves through the wax, creating luminous colors. Information is hidden, built up, excavated, and scratched into the paint. Without consciously thinking about it, I place restrictions on almost every level of decision-making. I limit my palette or the values and intensity of colors; color and materials are layered in a particular order to symbolize cultural sediment; I commit to the imprint of patterns, branded into wax, as part of the work’s history and sometimes don’t manipulate the paint past this point so as not to alter the authentic imprint that has been burned in time; when I fuse the paint with heat, using a heat gun or torch, I don’t try to control how the paint melts – my goal is to accept the heat’s effect on the wax, rather than try to control it. My creative process is a dance between intention and acceptance.
What was the most challenging part of your path so far? How are you navigating this obstacle?
I have learned a lot about myself in recent years. I am adaptable, curious, flexible, and continually move forward, particularly in my creative work. I tend to lean into new experiences and challenge myself creatively. When I encounter challenges, my inclination is to give myself space to see potential paths forward.
What role does experimentation and exploration play in your artistic practice?
When I’m having a tough time, I try to pivot and try something different – to trust the creative process. Recently, I made a painting that was perfectly fine. I’d had it photographed by a professional photographer, and I really wanted it to be done. I was thinking about the number of new paintings I’d completed for an upcoming exhibition. For this painting, I tried to focus on a really large pattern. The scale was great, but something was wrong. I’d just come back from an artist residency and put the painting on the wall of my studio, but didn’t touch it for a month and a half.
Sometimes it’s important to have faith that one risk can lead to another solution. I started a small painting that I thought would be easy to crank out…but it wasn’t. It really didn’t work, and I was convinced that I was going to paint over it. This is what happens when I think something will be simple. Usually, when I hit an impasse, I’m aware that I could do something uncomplicated, but predictable – or I could gamble on trying something unexpected. The latter almost always wins out because familiar territory doesn’t lead to new discoveries. I tried something different, loved it, and thought “hey, that works.”
Do you have any start or stop rituals before creating?
When I start a new painting, I map out the palette of colors I want to use on a watercolor postcard. I have a color card for every painting I’ve made since I started using encaustic paints in 2002. As I layer colors, or make decisions about a painting, I continually add to the card.
What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?
I try to create a sense of tension and beauty existing in the same space full of color, texture, and surprises. When people want to live with my work, I feel like I’ve succeeded in creating something that communicates more universally with a life beyond me.
Share a mantra or favorite quote that keeps you going.
The song “Still Breathing” by Green Day – preferably played at high volume.
