Paintings by Catherine Mills

About Catherine Mills

Catherine came into her own by defining what she needed rather than what others had assumed she required, a process that is still ongoing.

Catherine’s identity has been profoundly impacted by her facial difference (born with a cleft palate and hare-lip) and while the scars have faded, the idea of ‘difference’ and the search to attain/create beauty has been a deep current in her life. This dialogue has expanded to attempts to re-imagine the ‘alien’ in our culture, the dialogue between what is grotesque and fearful and that which we accept as beautiful. The insect series are a way to explore some of these ideas; butterflies are a universal symbol of resurrection and metamorphosis. The caterpillar becomes a winged miracle. Within these paintings lie the echoes of a childhood wish; that ugly ducklings could embody the spirits of swans…

Catherine began in the profession of decorative painting, having studied with internationally recognized Ritins Studio. She pursued an independent career and later worked for Ritins herself as a project manager and artisan assisting in many challenging and rewarding projects such as Winsor Casino, Niagara Falls Casino, Pillar and Post Spa and Hotel, The Royal Ontario Museum and many exclusive private residences. Catherine also worked with the talented Lori Klassen Studios on projects for Divine Design, one of Candace Olsen’s television projects. This work led to a lateral move into the fine arts and the exploration of oil painting as a career.

Catherine’s technique evolves from a classical, indirect approach in oil; a discipline of drawing, underpainting, layers of paint and final glazes, sometimes disrupted with impasto layers to create detailed realistic portrayals of her subjects, suspended in imagined space and time.

 

Artist Statement 

These paintings are in each in their own way surreal, indicative of the strange space occupied between realism and the ‘uncanny valley’ effect.  Inspired by my own facial difference and the subsequent scarring resulting from surgical repair, I have created portraits that have undergone their own surgeries, mirroring the modern mania for cosmetic procedures and facial alterations to conform to beauty standards.

This work is an attempt to explore how we view beauty, and how it wobbles on the spectrum depending on experience, status, perspective, age and philosophy. These are Kintsugi portraits, flaunting our beautiful cracks.

‘There is a crack, a crack in everything,
That’s where the light gets in.’

-Leonard Cohen

 

 

Instagram:  @catherinemillsart

Website: https://www.catherinemillsartist.com

Email:     catherine@catherinemillsartist.com