Art Interiors, Object D’art, Experience Design
Trained in architecture, Catherine works on art and design production on various scales. She embodies the total artwork, with all scales of an environment and experience considered. Visual and psychological narratives are constructed through sensual materiality. Catherine works horizontally on collaborations, is research-based in her production, and loves humor and imagination to bring rigor and positivity into all projects.
The total work of art
The German term Gesamtkunstwerk roughly translates as a "total work of art" and describes an artwork, design, or creative process where different art forms are combined to create a single cohesive whole. Gesamtkunstwerk, meaning literally ‘total work of art’, was originally intended to mean that all types of art, including painting, music, architecture, literature or performances could be collated into one interrelated subject, project, and study so that an overarching design schema would cover all elements of creation. The term is used widely in architectural projects where the designer creates a built environment of a larger architectural design, interior, landscape, and all details down into furniture, findings, and lighting. This strategy looks at the creative process as a whole and the human experience consisting of simultaneous sensory components. Meaning and fabrication intertwine, a poem or song becomes a wall, becomes a light, becomes the thing you stand on, the story you play in and retell. Our idea of what is real is constantly being challenged by the internet and virtual worlds. We are bombarded with sensorial data in form of sound and image overload. These elements often do not make a cohesive whole or tie together. The cognitive dissonance is collectively felt across our society. The layered meaning of the total work of art provides refuge and deep sense of purpose in our connection to what is real and important. Catherine's work seeks to explore the total work of art interweaving narratives, materials, and experiences into events and memories. Her belief is this strategy is the only way we can address the complexities and layers we must approach to make sense of our world. This is not an ideal, but an alternative to our disconnected reality, a pause where we can intertwine what we value and how we see and understand.
“An ideal work of art in which drama, music and other performing arts are integrated and each is subservient to the whole”
Richard Wagner