Cathy M. Woo Untitled
“What if I put this orange square next to that fuchsia
floral shape? What about sanding down that black
passage to reveal the strip of white dots
underneath?” These are the kinds of questions I am
always asking myself as my painting progresses.
Each painting is an adventure, allowing me to
respond to the image as I go along. I thrive on the
accidental mark, the unplanned passage, the surprise
effect. But my goal isn’t to just make a random
mess and hope the result is successful. There is an
overall intentional approach. I want to create a web
of varied visual elements that holds together as a
single image. Unity in diversity. Simplicity in
complexity. I do this by playing one visual element
against another, inserting each into a relationship
that alters the appearance of both: light vs. dark,
bright vs. dull, round vs. square, hard vs. soft.
Nonobjective painting is a lot like putting together a
visual puzzle where I get to choose the shape and
characteristics of each puzzle piece.
My painting process is physical: I lay the
painting flat on a table. And while standing up, I
attack it with a number of tools: scrapers, spatulas,
cheap brushes, spoons, sticks, knives, squirt bottles
and an electric sander. I use a variety of materials:
acrylic paint and mediums, vinyl paint, watercolor,
gouache, crayons, and pencils. Using these tools
and materials, I smear, glaze, rub, dab, scrape,
drizzle, mark and sand the paint.
I like to chew on paintings as I go along. Work
them. Jump off the diving board and risk screwing it
all up. I like paintings with guts and courage. I like
substance on the surface. I often force myself to
paint over passages I like if I think they don’t serve
the overall image. Frequently I will rotate a painting
and begin again using a new top edge. Above all, I
don’t want to end up with a boring image. I want
some surprise. An unexpected twist. A little
evidence of defiance and imperfection. I just keep
chewing on them until I know it’s enough.
www.cathymwoo.com