Cate White
The Flood, 2020

acrylic, latex, spray paint, glitter, mica on canvas
65”H x 45”W

ARTWORK STATEMENT:

As much as we want to reach for hope and visions of a better future in difficult times, I know from my own evolution as an artist and a person that the rainbow only appears after the cleansing storm. And it takes the elemental, destructive power of the storm to reveal what has been hidden beneath the surface. So I wanted to make a painting about the Flood--the period when our ability to manage and control fails and new energies for new life emerge from the unconscious chaos. The central octopus figure references Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, who is usually depicted with blue skin and multiple arms holding weapons.

Artist Bio:

Self-taught beginning at age 30, White’s work became public in 2014 with the ProArts 2x2 Solos Exhibition, followed by the 2015 Tournesol Award from Headlands Center for the Arts, the Bay Area Now 8 triennial at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and residencies in Roswell, New Mexico; Atlantic Center for the Arts; the Mills College Art Museum A+P+I Residency; and ten solo shows and multiple group shows in the Bay Area and beyond.