Cathy Osman
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Cathy Osman STATEMENT This work is all collage based. I am constructing primarily using old sewing pattern tissue, which I run through my printing press with different surface textures and color. With this raw material I layer the tissue paper creating substrata made dense with an overlay of marks and color. Some of the work can be read as landscape, reflecting the damage done by floodwaters, or an image complex with scaffolding referencing urban industrialization and chaos. Many of the pieces have constructions made of balsa wood and string over the front face. These external structures suggest broken bridges, fish netting, or basketry. This linear structure interlaces another level of visual tension and subject matter, whether read as circuitry, roadways or analogous to the calligraphy of language. The work also reflects upon my continuing involvement with a small English language school in rural Cambodia. The work begins to picture those conduits, which are formed through language, geographic and cultural distance, and the impact of the English speaking world, the Internet and most importantly the human connection. With a surplus of material the scale of the work has grown and the pieces are large having a sculptural presence on the wall but also fragility. The tissue paper is skin like and the balsa wood weightless, giving the work a sense of impermanence, issues, which are current to me now. BIO I have been teaching at Marlboro College in southern Vermont for the past 15 years, focusing on painting, printmaking and drawing. Prior to moving to Vermont, I taught in the 5 College Area of Western Massachusetts. My studio work and intellectual pursuits are affected by the interdisciplinary of Marlboro’s curriculum. For instance, given the opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia three times with students, Vietnam and Cambodia working with a diversity of students. At Hue University, we collaborated on making a large-scale collagraph print depicting an aerial view of Hue. These experiences abroad and in the classroom inspire my current studio work, which consists of large paper collages. As an artist, I am in constant reference to the landscape, as seen through my studio window, travel, research and my use of non-traditional materials. The activity in my studio engages my teaching directly as one learns to balance success with experimentation and work through the discomfort of not knowing. ARTIST CONTACT [click to email] IMAGES
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