I'm at Tremallt studios and I'm impressed, it’s bright and full of atmosphere. I feel at home here as the venue stimulates my creative impulses. Cathy’s been here for just over four years. This place is imbued with heritage containing reminders of the artist’s past and connections in the nooks and crannies. There is the expected smell of linseed oil with an assortment of rags to hand but also an energy that is palpable. Cathy places her canvases directly on the studio floor where she deftly applies her technical and conceptual skills. She employs dynamic and expressive gestures as she pulls into being her landscapes and seascapes. This is an artist with a pedigree that places her within the British landscape painting tradition.
Her most recent paintings shows her mastery of materials and intention. She is a passionate and sincere individual with a robust desire to be active and fulfil a protestant work ethic.
Her work has evocative titles:
Continuum, Essence, Maelstrom, Nostalgia, Synthesis, The Harvest, and Uprooted.
I love the titles of the pieces because they allow me to put my own interpretations onto the work. I always prefer work that allows me to draw upon my own aesthetic knowledge rather than a dictated response. The work operates both on the surface as well with depth there is a real sense of space and place. A landscape showing a hillside is obscured by the materialisation of the element between the viewer and the horizon. I had a good close up look at this piece then I stepped back and the textures just popped out!
Landscape and portrait are the fundamentals of the British painting tradition and Cathy Stocker is making great strides with her inquiries. I can safely say that with her that legacy is secure.
Maelstrom
Continuum
Synthesis
Essence
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