ARTIST STATEMENT

From the time I was very young, I’ve been fascinated by textiles. I love the feeling of raw fiber flowing through my fingers when I spin, I love immersing fiber and fabrics in dye, and I especially love working with silk which absorbs color in jewel tones. The silk organza in this body of work has an open weave, it’s transparent, and perfect for building layers of colors that for play with light, not unlike glass. 

My work turned in the direction of Judaica when the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center hosted a show of Emerging Jewish Artists in 2005. I had been taking macro photos of flowers at the time. One image was an elegant white tulip with light silhouetting the tall stamen exposed by a fallen away front petal. It looked to me as if it was a person under a tallis, in a nave or in a sacred space. Marcia Falk, the artist, poet and Jewish scholar, suggested I look to the midrash and the Song of Songs for a title to convey what I felt. “He Wrapped Himself in a Robe of Light and it Began to Shine” became the title and with that, the focus of my work took on a new direction. 

I have become captivated by the way that our stories are woven into our lives. For me, the delicacy and strength of silk is a natural format for conveying compassion and beauty. I look for ways to let the stories, images and words shine out of the silk.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Catherine Stern was born in upstate New York to Brooklyn-raised parents and grew up in Palo Alto. Majoring in art at San Francisco State University with an emphasis in textile art, she began experimenting with dyes on silk as a student. 

Catherine’s work has been exhibited in California and Maine in the group show of Emerging Jewish Artists at the Osher Marin JCC. Catherine has had one person exhibits at the Austin, TX Jewish Community Center, the Berkeley Photo Shop, and Red Oak Realty Community Art Gallery.