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Artist Statement:
Making art brings me great
joy, and I believe each canvas
is like a brief moment in an
untold story.
My collage art is inspired by
vintage images found in old
magazines, catalogs and books.
I am fascinated by these
forgotten treasures and the
people who left them on
shelves and in boxes in
basements and attics for me to
rediscover. By the time I
find them the paper is
yellowed and faded, mice have
chewed the corners and insects
and moths have made their
holes. But these images are
precious to me. I imagine the
time when they were brand new
and the dreams they inspired -
of beautiful fashions or
traveling to far away places.
They are as fresh and brimming
with innovation to my eyes as
they were to the eyes that saw
them the first time around.
When I choose the images for a
collage I am conscious that
the final result will be
whimsical, often surreal,
while remaining visually
rooted in times past. And it
is my intention not only to
stir imaginations, but also to
encourage a sort of
sentimental nostalgia.
I use a combination of media
in my work, including paint,
found objects, computer ...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
Cathy Horner Collage Art
Solo Exhibit January 9, 2009
Black Rooster Gallery
109 East Main St
Marion VA 24354
Solo Exhibit December 4, 2008
3rd I Productions
611 Parkway Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Call for invitation
1-866-216-0650
Solo Exhibit Oct. 3rd-19th,
2008
OPening reception 10/...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
http://www.cathyhorner.com
3rd I Productions
Gatlinburg, TN...
Further Information
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Reviews for Cathy Horner:
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Free Lance Star 9/6/2007
LOCAL ARTIST'S FIRST SHOW IS A COLLAGE OF CLEVERNESS CLASSIC IMAGES MEET NEW IDEAS AT STUDIO A.
There's an inherent limitation in the ability of words to describe a piece of art. The brightness of a particular color, the depth of field in a particular piece--these are things a writer can attempt to describe. But the impact sometimes just can't be felt without actually seeing the piece.
Writing can help whet the appetite, but it's the meal itself that people remember. Such is the case with the idea of collage as art. One can say, "Cathy Horner does really cool collages," and still the reader can't drink in the thick texture, the blending of brilliant cutouts from early-20th-century industrial magazines, the whimsy and the cleverness of the pieces in this, her impressive and fun first exhibit."Some people call it collage art, some mixed media," said Horner. "I call it both."
Horner, an accomplished guitar player and music teacher at Apple Music, was inspired by vintage images in magazines, books and catalogs from the late 1800s through the 1940s. She uses the actual images--very few digital transfers--which adds character and color to the pieces.As she notes in her artist statement: "By the time I find them, the paper is yellowed and faded, mice have chewed the corners and insects and moths have made their holes."
Add a unique sense of presentation, a clear love for retro kitsch, handmade paper, and layers and layers of acrylic paint and varnish, and the end result is a series of images that stick in the viewer's mind.
One of the best here is "She Soars," with a nicely dressed woman from, perhaps, the 1930s, flying through the blue skies, smiling serenely. On her back, making the flight possible, Horner has added airplane wings. From her head sprouts a wire (actual, not painted). Below her flies an old Wright Brothers-era plane, and above her some sort of World War II period bomber.
The description sounds bizarre, but the impact is fabulous, and leaves the viewer with a smile. If it's making fun of our early, more serene times, it's done lovingly.
In "Trouble in the Parlour," four Victorian-era gentlemen stand about in the most respectable of long dark suits, discussing, we presume, matters of great import. Their heads, however, are what cause the double-take: two cows, a duck, and a horse head sit atop the sober crew.
One can't ignore the robots, either. For several pieces here, Horner took parts out of machinery pictures in old industrial trade magazines, and pieced them together to create her own original robots interacting in various human-like situations. One of the cleverest is "Family Time," where a robot family relaxes in a very human living room.
There's beauty amid the whimsy here--and a realization that collage is more than just slapping cutouts together. The good stuff, where it becomes art as it does here, needs vision, and a skilled creator with the ability to think outside the box. Cathy Horner's "Mixed Media and Collage Art" is refreshing.
Weekender editor DAVE SMALLEY
FreeLance Star, Fredericksburg VA October 2, 2008
THE ADVENTURES OF A NEWLY MARRIED AMERICAN MALE
FROM MARTIAL ARTS TO LEADING LADIES
(excerpt)
For you men who like fine art (or who enjoy pretendingyou like fine art, so your wife will let you go see a cage fight on Saturday night), the exhibit you don't want to miss is the Cathy Horner exhibit that opens on Friday night at Studio A Gallery, downtown.
Cathy creates her pieces by using old photographs and vintage and handmade paper, combined with a variety of artistic techniques-
resulting in a fascinating collection of animals, people, faires and robots.
One of the pieces on her Web site, cathyhorner.com, shows a robot
family in a 1950s-style kitchen, with the mother pulling a battery out of the oven. You really don't want to miss it.
The exhibit starts Friday at Studio A, which is upstairs at 1011-A
Princess Anne St. There is a First Friday opening reception tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m.
Chris Keyser
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