In the Studio with Artist Catherine Mapp

Catherine R. Mapp currently lives and works in Baltimore, MD. She received her BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2022. Mapp has already exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions including the Waiola Art Center in Hawaii, the Ditchling Museum of Craft in England, Deanna Evans Projects in NYC, and Area 405 as well as Loyola University in Maryland. She is currently working on her Master's in Teaching at the Maryland Institute, as well as planning various curatorial and community art ventures for summer and fall.

My art explores the human experience, especially in relation to music, and how it has the ability to foster a sense of connectedness. My involvement in the DMV electronic music scene as well as experiences growing up in the subtropics have shaped my uniquely vibrant personal aesthetic. Listening to music is often the jumping-off point in the studio that induces a trance-like focus on mark-making and color layering, where the hand is directed through painting to interact with different performative mythologies (rituals) and healing practices. My work speaks to the viewer through the symbolic language of color, memory, ancestral connection, and hieroglyphics.

The first slide of my portfolio is a painting entitled "Collective Revision." The piece was inspired by a trip to Mexico and my time visiting the Jalisco state during summer (which my dad's side of the family originates from). The colors are reminiscent of sunsets there during summer. And the rows of shapes in the composition are from hieroglyphic runes meaning 'Jalisco'. The hieroglyphics are repeated in sequence both forward and backward as a meditation on the passing of time. The title Collective Revision is a nod to my spiritual beliefs surrounding collective wisdom and ancestral healing that can be accessed through meditative practices such as art making.

How do you prepare to start a new piece? (do you have a ritual, do you do research, do you sketch it out,

talk it out...)

Rest is essential to feeding my creativity. In that time, I like to generate a lot of different possibilities in my sketchbook practice that can become larger pieces later (whether woven or painted). The idea is to have time to ‘play’ and innovate while also compiling visual and verbal granules of interest all in one place. Sometimes themes and concepts that present themselves in books that I happen to be reading or a a show that I’m watching end up tying into a project and influencing their trajectory. Sketchbooking is a type of note-taking that leads to more refined explorations later on in the studio.

When do you art?

The time of day varies but I try to do at least a sketch/note or a couple of brushmarks on a larger piece every day. Generally, getting my day going first thing in the morning by going to the studio makes for the most productive days. I find it hard to shift gears later on if I’ve been at work all day doing more academic/organizational/left-brain tasks and then try to loosen up and work in a creative capacity. Sometimes inspiration also strikes late at night coming home from the bar after lots of unstructured wind-down time with friends. The opportunity to let my mind wander in conversation usually helps to kick start the creativity.

What is your studio/creative space like? Or what is your favorite place to create in?

An absolute mess! I moved in about four months ago and am still trying to get things organized in a way that makes materials accessible and creates a nice flow around the space, all while economizing wall space to hang canvases to paint on.

Do you work on one piece of art at a time, or multiple?

I find that working on multiple pieces actually helps my focus and ability to problem-solve when I get stuck at a certain stage in the making process. I like to mix materials that are completely unrelated (such as a painting project and a textile project) so that they end up informing each other but also giving much-needed time away from one piece to another in order to come back with fresh perspectives.