Statement
I make paintings and drawings that depict the natural world as a place of utopian beauty and optimism, full of uneasy undercurrents created by natural disaster, human intervention and aging infrastructure. Awe, awkwardness, and a little bit of vertigo are what I feel in the mountains and woods. The paintings embody these sensations as a sense of timelessness, endurance, and the ambiguity and power held within these relationships. To make this work, I photograph local landscapes and combine these with found images, sketches from direct observation, experience recollection and imagination. These elements combine additively, a collage of representation and memory. The original content is often obscured with layers of paint and loose alterations, making some areas become more abstract, while others are brought into focus.
CV
CATHY ELLIS
707 304 0008
cathyellisprojects@gmail.com
Education
University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA; MFA; 2014
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA; BFA in Painting; 2010
Solo and two person exhibitions
2022, The Tender Air, with Yumiko Glover, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2021, Cathy Ellis and and David Pettengill, Equilateral Gallwry, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Fine Evident, White Cube Gallery, Naropa University, Boulder, CO
2018 Personal Effect, with Patrick Gilbert, Love Gallery, San Diego, CA
2017 Salt Found Me, Artlab Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
2015 Drought Resistant, Summer Artist Series, CMJ:LA, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 Horizontality, with Patrick Gilbert, Glass Box Gallery, part of Babel Working Group Conference, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 Some Other Time Travel, with Megan Mueller, Cal State Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
2013 Your Prize is at the Bottom of the Pool, with Alison Ho, Gallery 479, Santa Barbara, CA
2012 Venture, Beulah Land, Olema, CA
2011 Orange Ocean, Liquid Spaces @ Sherwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group exhibitions
2023 7th Anniversary Exhibition, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Contemporary Biodiversity, The Art Center, Grand Junction, CO (curated by Lily Cain)
2022, 6th Anniversary Exhibition, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2021, Unmuted: A collection of creative work by faculty at CSUCI, Napa Gallery, Cal State Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
2021, 5th Anniversary Exhibition, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2020, M.F.A./20/20, Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2019 Slow Art, Village West Gallery, Jersey City, NJ (catalog)
2019 Anniversary Exhibition and ACLU Benefit, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Cole Creativity Center Inaugural Exhibition, Santa Paula Museum of Art, Santa Paula, CA
2018 Incendiary Devices, curated by Rose Briccetti, POST, Los Angeles, CA
2018 SHE-DEN, Red Barn Project Space, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
2017 Salon at the Triton, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
2017 In Defense of Democracy, SBCAST Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 MAS ATTACK 11, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2015 30 Painters to Collect, BluelineArts, Sacramento, CA
2015 Pulp In Ashes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Out of the Great Wide Open, curated by Brooke Kellaway, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara
2015 Materialist, curated by Megan Mueller and Sam Scharf, Elephant, Los Angeles (catalog)
2014 SUMMUS, Minan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 First Omnis International, Minan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Alter, MFA Exhibition, Museum of Art, Design and Architecture, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 Cozy with the Enemy, collaborative installation with Aurora Valentine, Gallery 1328, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 MAS ATTACK 2, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Post Human Nature, Platform Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA (curated by Alejandro Casazi)
2013 Unholy Mess, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, McCormick House, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 25 Years 25 Artists, The Painting Students of Mark Perlman, University Gallery, SSU, Rohnert Park, CA (curated by Mark Perlman and Michael Schwager)
2012 Undiscovered, Sonoma Valley Museum, Sonoma, CA (curated by Kate Eilersten and Michael Schwager)
2011 Current Event Print Show, 186 Carpenter Gallery, Providence, RI
2011 Drawing Variations: International Print and Video, Davis Art Center, Davis, CA (curated by Joanna Kidd)
2011 West Coast Biennial, Turtle Bay Museum, Redding, CA (juried by Bob Nugent)
2010 BFA Exhibition, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Honors/Awards/Residencies
2022 Artist Residency, Eastern Frontier Foundation, Norton Island, ME
2019 Nominee, Aninstantia Foundation Artist Grant, Redwood City, CA
2017 Visiting Artist in Residence, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Fellowship Recipient, Advanced Painting Workshop with Enrique Martinez Celaya, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
2016 Nominee, Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 Teaching Fellowship, College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 Juror’s Award, Omnis International, Minan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Howard Fenton Award for Painting, University of California at Santa Barbara
2014 Nominee, Dedalus Foundation, Master of Fine Arts Fellowship
2013 Howard Fenton Award for Painting, University of California at Santa Barbara
2013 Levitan Arts Fellowship, University of California at Santa Barbara
2013 Block Grant Fellowship, University of California at Santa Barbara
2013 Nominee, Graduate Teaching Award, University of California at Santa Barbara
2012 Block Grant Fellowship, University of California at Santa Barbara
2012 Nominee, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art SECA Award
2012 Residency (with funding), Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Public, Gallery and University Lectures
Public Lecture, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, 2/12/2019
Artist-In-Residence Talk, Salt Found Me, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA 11/15/17
Artist Talk, Out of the Great Wide Open, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA 3/11/15
Visiting Artist Lecture, UCSB Arts Colloquium, Frank Harold Hall, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 10/23/14
Artist Talk and panel discussion, The Students of Mark Perlman, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 9/5/2012
Artist talk and round table discussion, Undiscovered, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA, 3/18/2010
Public Lecture, Orange Ocean, Liquid Spaces Gallery, Sherwood Design, San Francisco, CA, 10/14/ 2011
Press
Catalog, Materialist, Patrick Melroy and Raymond Douglas, Pullstring Press 2015
SB Seasons, "Drought Resistant, Summer Art Series", June 2, 2015
The Independent, Santa Barbara, "Out of the Great Wide Open at MCASB", Feb 3, 2015
The Daily Nexus, “Your Prize is at the Bottom of the Pool, New Works by Two UCSB Graduate Students” January 2013.
Pressdemocrat.com, “Two Reasons to Visit SMVA on Sunday”, January 2012
Oaklandlocal.com, “Cathy Ellis at Homespun Bikes” March 2011
Redding.com, “Art Explosion: Talent Displayed, Prizes at Stake in West Coast Biennale” January, 2011