Statement
My work has influences as varied as illuminated manuscripts, Indian and Islamic miniatures, textiles and visionary art. I’m especially drawn to the beautiful patterning used in these traditions.
My working habits have become very important to me over the years. I paint primarily at night, after the constant juggling and stresses of the day job, parenting, and running a household are over. The time in the studio is my refuge at the end of a hectic day and I paint every night, channeling the anxieties I feel into the creation of something good and peaceful.
My recent work explores the complicated parent-child relationship and the desire to protect a loved one. Intuitively painted with colorful patterns, the work functions as protective talismans and examines the uplifting power of color and the creative process during emotional periods in our lives.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
After earning a BFA in Painting from The Cooper Union in New York, Catherine Colangelo returned to Houston to pursue her art practice. She was one of five finalists for the 2017 Artadia Award – Houston, the recipient of 2011 and 2007 Individual Artist Grant Fellowships from the Houston Arts Alliance, and has been a Hunting Prize finalist in 2014 and 2010. Catherine’s work has been featured in many group exhibits and in the recent solo exhibitions Everyday Sorcery and Talismanic at Cindy Lisica Gallery (Houston), Ocular Rhythms at McMurtrey Gallery (Houston), Double Wedding Ring at DARKE Gallery (Houston), Sea Change at Conduit Gallery (Dallas), and Fleet for Abby at Art League Houston.
Catherine’s work has been selected by both Claire C. Carter, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and Bill Arning, the director of the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, to be included in New American Paintings, West Issue. Her work is also included in corporate collections including: Four Seasons Hotel (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Four Seasons Hotel (Houston), Rosewood Abu Dhabi Hotel, (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Fidelity Investments (Boston), and Sidley Austin LLP (Houston).