29.05.2015 - 14.06.2015
These paintings were all done in the year 2014
They are all centered on particular events from that year.
Each painting is based on the same underlying geometric shape – which may be familiar to many of you as an origami fortune teller.
The first painting is called Ukraine.
I wanted to express the feeling of Ukraine in good times. The vishyvanka, to me, is a symbol of national pride and tradition, unique to this country. I have represented a traditional embroidery design, but the pattern has been distorted and confused by the folds of the fortune teller. It now seems like hundreds of graves.
The next in the series is called yes/no.
During 2014 the Scottish people held a referendum to decide if they should leave the United Kingdom. It came very close to a yes vote. I was very glad that the majority of people decided they should stay. I felt very sad about the thought that part of our country would want to leave us. The painting I made to celebrate this result is a complicated colourful pattern based on Scottish tartan fabric.
The third painting is called MH17.
We can all remember this terrible event. There will forever be a connection between the Netherlands and Ukraine because of what happened. I have called both countries my home and for this reason I felt the pain very deeply. I have decorated the fortune teller with traditional delft tiles, but instead of the usual everyday scenes of Dutch life they depict Ukrainian motifs and scenes from Maidan.
The final painting is called Ebola
Last year we all watched the news reports following the seemingly relentless spread of this dreadful disease across Africa and beyond. I lived in West Africa for four years in the 1990s and have great affection for the place and the people. My painting tries to show their spirit. I depicted an invented fabric using typical bright colours and lively patterns and motifs, but if you look closely at what I have shown you will see syringes and viruses as well as the bats that originally spread the disease to humans.
Dutch embroideries 1-4
These paintings explore surface pattern and colour. I found some tapestries in a charity shop in a small town in North Holland. Many years later I have taken these designs as the inspiration for a series of paintings.
Ukrainian embroideries (Vishyvanka 1-2; Vishyvanka small; Tile Vishyvanka)
This series extends the idea started with the Dutch embroideries. I have taken the traditional vishyvanka designs as the inspiration for a series of abstract, optical paintings further exploring pattern and colour.
Blue Path and Blue Blocks
These works were the beginning of my exploration of optical illusion and were the precursors to the rest of the work in this exhibition.
Catherine Tiley
Originally from the UK but now living in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Catherine has lived outside the UK for more than 27yrs; together with her family she has lived in the Middle East, West Africa, the Netherlands and currently Ukraine.
A key theme of Catherine’s work is that it is strongly influenced by her immediate environment – the landscape, the light & the everyday objects that are typical of the local culture as well as the events that unfold around her. Inspired by her surroundings Catherine will incorporate typically idiosyncratic objects from the local setting into her work. To Catherine, everything is a potential subject for a painting. As she explores a new place, whether it is fruit in the local market or typical everyday things …. All are potential candidates to be placed in a composition.
Painting from life, predominantly in oil, occasionally acrylic, water colour and collage. In her work there is a strong emphasis on composition with often unusual viewpoints. Realistic in style but at the same time graphical and surprising, her work defies the ordinary nature of the subject matter.
Alongside her still-life works, Catherine has also developed a unique approach to portraiture, where once again her compositions are unusual. Catherine’s fascination with the trompe l’oeil effect deployed by 16th Century Dutch masters of still life, as well as inspiring her own realistic work, has also led her to explore the pure optical effects of creating a 3D world on a flat canvas in a series of abstract paintings.
Those who would like to see a wider range of work by Catherine can visit her website: www.cathytiley.com
She studied for a BA in Visual Arts at Lancaster University and has continued to learn from other artists in residential summer schools. She has also taught drawing and painting but prefers to concentrate on her own work.
She comes from an artistic family and two of her sisters are also established artists. Catherine has four children, two grown up and two teens at boarding school in England.
Exhibitions:
- Majlis Gallery, Muscat
- Jibreen Gallery, Muscat
- “Diversity” at The British Club, Den Haag
- “Diversity II” at the American Women’s Club, Den Haag
- “Unity” at the Vrijplaats Gallery in Amsterdam
- “Some like it hot” at Walls Gallery Amsterdam
- “Wall 2 Wall” at Walls Gallery Amsterdam
- Boom Art collective, Amsterdam
- Station Stockholm, Amstelveen
- Triptych Gallery, Kyiv
Catherine Tiley