Two Views of Contemplation: An exhibit by Cathy Breslaw

Cathy Breslaw: Contemplation at the Gotthelf Art Gallery, San Diego Center for Jewish Culture, ( 4126 Executive Drive , La Jolla, 92037) Sept. 11 until Nov 26. The central installation, is based on the shofar, the ancient instrument created from a ram's horn that Jews have used for centuries. Breslaw takes seemingly ordinary materials that, because of their artistic transformation, transcend their original function. More info: Ann Telford 858.692.2351

As Cathy Breslaw is one of our Picked RAW Peeled bloggers, both Joe Nalven and Patricia Frischer went to see her exhibition,

Cathy Breslaw: Future Contemplations
by Patricia Frischer

I am writing an emotional reaction to the works of Cathy Breslaw at the Gotthelf Gallery. It is delightful to enter this room full of lovely colors and shapes, but certain works attracted me more  that others. There are large works with dark and light contrast and many obviously hand draw and hand crafted collaged elements. I find these works a bit confusing but they are obviously quest for some purpose. I am just not sure what. But those are contrasted with the much more pure net pieces with layers of hand gradient applied colors titled, for example, sunrise and sunset. If you get close to these works and block out all around you, you could get lost in them. If fact, I found myself wanting them to be huge and for the room to contain only four of them rather like the feeling you get when you are in a room of Rothko's paintings.  You could be engulfed and transported. These works truly could allow you to contemplate much the same way at looking at clouds allows your mind to roam. Works that are capable of allowing this type of experience are very special.  

I loved the relationship between the Shofar themed central work and the Jewish Community Center. The net veil records five words: Renew, Awaken, The Call, Reflect, Forgive. And there are miniature shofar symbols forming a circle at the base that reminds me of a maze walk which is used for meditation.  Again I found myself wanting this piece to be larger, to actually walk the spiral and even add layers of net where I could enter into the work. I think this piece has the possibility of being a whole series or an entire room filling installation.

I was also drawn to this work which has these odd shapes attached directly to the wall with delicate wires. They seem to be scurrying across the wall but do not seem to threatening like spiders, but instead some sort of leaf or figurative forms and they create lovely shadows and are more delicately colored than appears in this image. This  work was created in 2014

Cathy Breslaw has intellectual strength tempered with a love for a physical experience.
She is an artist to watch.

Contemplation: An exhibit by Cathy Breslaw
by Joe Nalven

How does an artist ─ working together with an art gallery ─ create an engaging exhibition? Many of us have participated in this experience, others have wondered about it. 

Cathy Breslaw's exhibit allows us to step inside her mindset:  Contemplation, an exhibit opening at the Gotthelf Art Gallery, San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. 

JN:  How did this exhibit come into being? I began to wonder about this question in looking at the imagery that will be in the exhibit as well as the connecting titles.

CB:  When I was asked to do this show, I was asked that it have some relationship to Judaism. This was new to me. I had not done religious-related work even though I am Jewish.

As I began to consider the show, i realized it takes place during the High Holy Days which are the most important religious Jewish holidays.  I am an observant Jew and my maternal grandfather was an Orthodox Rabbi (he died many years before I was born). These holidays are a time of prayer and reflection. Here was my contemplation as the central focus for the show. It is not a religious-based show, but the idea of contemplation as a thought process and a way to frame some ideas and work.

Cathy Breslaw / Sunset  (Nb. layers of industrial plastic mesh and spray paint}

I will have fourteen separate works in the show. The central installation themed piece is called: The Call of the Shofar:100 Sounds. I was inspired by the shofar, an ancient instrument made from a ram's horn which is blown on the High Holy Days. There are many interpretations but the one that speaks to me has to do with it as a call to wake up, to reflect on our lives, and to transform them.

I also found in my research that the shofar blows one hundred sounds on Rosh Hashana which is referred to the piece.

Cathy Breslaw / Above, Below and Beyond

There are other works in the show based on a large series i have done in the past few years called Atmosphere which are like color field painting where I am using industrial mesh layers with spray paint to create wall works that somehow create an atmosphere I feel from nature. 

I am always seeking to challenge myself in terms of materials and new or differing ways to communicate my thoughts and ideas. Materials themselves are a big motivator. I am drawn to simple, accessible materials rather than traditional art materials and ways of translating into art pieces.

JN:  How does this exhibit connect with your way of thinking about the world in other ways?

CB:  I think and read a lot about cosmology, philosophy, and have always been drawn to ideas about light and space. Installation work is a nice way of being able to create things in 3-D space without making them sculptural objects per se.

Cathy Breslaw /  Free Flow 8 (left); Free Flow 2 (right)

I approach my work with thoughtful intuition. I work from a place of honoring where i am at any point in time and finding materials that offer me an opportunity to express those thoughts and ideas. I have used industrial plastic mesh materials and fabric for several years as a central point because they express my thoughts about light, space and transparencies. It also comes from my thoughts about the temporal, fleeting and transience of life. I am often inspired by nature ─ sea, sky and wind, which are so much a part of my daily life. Running and biking are regular activities for me and part of daily life which also influence my concepts of space and moving through it.

I want viewers of my work to make their own interpretations ─ to react to what they see and feel and not so much be told about what I think the work is about. I believe art should be another experience of living daily life. I don't want to direct viewers to a specific idea I am imparting. For me to create work, I am informing myself about my experience of the world but in no way do I want to direct others.

 

Exhibition:   Contemplation Gotthelf Art Gallery San Diego Center for Jewish Culture Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center Jacobs Family Campus 4126 Executive Drive La Jolla, California 92037 Tel. 858.457.3030 September 11 – November 26 Hours:  9 am to 5 pm (daily except for Saturdays & holidays)

Views from the installed exhibit:

Spirit Moves / Wall installation piece made with paper, wire and paint.  Ideas of the temporal and fragile nature of life, movement and reflections of the pieces of shadows on the wall lending more of a sculptural quality to the installation. The pieces are each literally hanging from a "wire" from the wall.

Installation photograph of several works:  large round piece on left is Metamorphosis, 8' in diameter, mixed media - mesh, tyvek, paint, piece dealing with the ephemerality/ fragility of life. Central Installation (yellow) The Call of the Shofar: 100 Sounds. talks about the Jewish high holidays and idea of the shofar as a call to awaken, reflect, renew.  Seven pieces along the right are industrial mesh, spray paint works that each have several layers, referencing color field painting in overall atmosphere dictated by color and emotion.

From Cathy Breslaw's artist statement: 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines  contemplation as “thoughtful, long consideration or observation, full or deep consideration; reflection; religious connotations.” These interpretations inspired the process of creating my works in this exhibition. Some works are new while others have been made within the last two years. Spirit Moves is one of several installations and uses the accessible and simple materials of paper, wire and paint.  A series of twelve small paintings called Free Flow, were created by the ancient Japanese technique of Suminagashi painting whereby paint or ink is gently dropped onto the surface of water. After creating a deliberate composition, and laying paper or fabric on top of the water, the image is released on to the surface of the support material. There are three works from a series called Swept Away that incorporate drawing, paint and mixed media on industrial mesh that are partially suspended from the ceiling and wall. Metamorphosis is an 8’ in diameter circular work made of industrial mesh, tyvek and paint that has been created through a heating process, having underlying themes of meditation and the impermanence of all things. There is also a series of seven industrial mesh works which originate from a large series called Atmospheres using layers of painted mesh pieces to create a spatial experience having to do with our natural world.

As Cathy Breslaw is one of our Picked RAW Peeled bloggers, both Joe Nalven and Patricia Frischer went to see her exhibition,

Cathy Breslaw: Future Contemplations
by Patricia Frischer

I am writing a more emotional reaction to the works of Cathy Breslaw at the Gotthelf Gallery. It is delightful to enter this room full of lovely colors and shapes, but certain works attracted me more  that others. There are large works with dark and light contrast and many obviously hand draw and hand crafted collaged elements. I find these works a bit confusing but they are obviously quest for some purpose. I am just not sure what. But those are contrasted with the much more pure net pieces with layers of hand gradient applied colors titled, for example, sunrise and sunset. If you get close to these works and block out all around you, you could get lost in them. If fact, I found myself wanting them to be huge and for the room to contain only four of them rather like the feeling you get when you are in a room of Rothko's paintings.  You could be engulfed and transported. These works truly could allow you to contemplate much the same way at looking at clouds allows your mind to roam. Works that are capable of allowing this type of experience are very special.  

I loved the relationship between the Shofar themed central work and the Jewish Community Center. The net veil records five words: Renew, Awaken, The Call, Reflect, Forgive. And there are miniature shofar symbols forming a circle at the base that reminds me of a maze walk which is used for meditation.  Again I found myself wanting this piece to be larger, to actually walk the spiral and even add layers of net where I could enter into the work. I think this piece has the possibility of being a whole series or an entire room filling installation.

I was also drawn to this work which has these odd shapes attached directly to the wall with delicate wires. They seem to be scurrying across the wall but do not seem to threatening like spiders, but instead some sort of leaf or figurative forms and they create lovely shadows and are more delicately colored than appears in this image. This  work was created in 2014

Cathy Breslaw has intellectual strength tempered with a love for a physical experience.
She is an artist to watch.