The works of Catalina, start from a minimal sign, a fundamental particle, a mark that leaves her pen, nib, or Rotring so that, like a demiurge, it begins to form an
extraordinary world, ethereal and subtle.
Tiny strokes that are clustered, assembled, broken, amalgamated, added, while inviting us to plunge into a universe of extraordinary atmospheres, fairy lights, elegant shadows, dazzling landscapes, calm settings, diverse beings, isolated or connected objects, alone or united.
It is a message in which the word is that small mark applied on an archaic surface, simple and qualified, such as those papers that Chervin chooses for each of her works, a universe of capricious and seductive fibers that receive the signs of her message.
That is what I saw and experienced when I first came across the works of the artist, her drawings and engravings. Simple lines transported me to landscapes that multiplied and welcomed me peacefully as happened with the Works in the About the Apocalypse series, from 2004, where she combines pen and pencil mixing ink and charcoal. Then I saw those works filled with near-biological forms, with shadows that stress certain areas adding drama to those “beings” that throb in the white field.
Works from the first years of this decade, on larger surfaces, often worked on over a long time period —three or four years— combine different procedures that enrich her creations, until the most recent ones, characterized by the peaceful and quiet settings that we see today in this exhibition.
It is worthwhile mentioning the skill in the handling of the materials she uses. In addition to pen, nib or Rotring tip, graphite, ink and charcoal that we see, there are others that we fail to perceive but that are essential procedures that the artist uses to achieve the caress the paper demands, creating the images we are given here.
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Dr Angel M. Navarro is a, profesor, researcher and curator. His work focuses on European art of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. He is a professor of the History of Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies, and of History of Art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. Navarro has curated many local and international exhibitions and is currently curator of Old Drawings at the MNBA. He lives and works in Buenos Aires. |
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