My current work engages materiality in many forms. Twisting, stretching, wrapping, tapering, weaving, slashing, tucking, tying, gathering, folding, layering and sewing are ways in which the industrial mesh is
manipulated to create wall,floor and suspended installation works that often reference painting and sculpture.
Things that spark my work include global social platforms of communication - shifting paradigms of how we relate, uniting all cultures. By embracing dissimilar combinations of ideas simultaneously also offers us the
possibility of seeing concepts of space and time in unique ways. These ideas have extended my interest into
creating abstract drawings that precede the wall and hanging installations as well as becoming complete finished works. My definitions of space and time have been altered and enriched, providing me a wealth of visual ideas that are an ongoing transformation of materials into art pieces.
In my travels to Taiwan, I located an industrial mesh - rolls packed in room-sized containers ready for commercial shipping to ports worldwide. Fascinated by the mesh, I visited the factory in Shanghai, and brought materials back to my studio where I could experiment, explore and expand the possibilities creating art pieces that endure. I’ve also sought out and found similar kinds of commercial materials, transforming them from their original purpose.
Concepts of light, space and multiple dimensions form the undercurrent of my thought process as I create the work. Color and light play an integral role enhancing the atmospheric transparency of the materials. The often
large scale and placement of the work from wall to ceiling to floor, recontextualizes how the viewer experiences the work. Light originating from natural to artificial sources causes the exhibition space to glow,
often casting shadows on the walls and floor, lending a sculptural quality to the pieces.
The work, sharing forms of painting, sculpture and installation, leads the viewer to take an intimate look at seemingly ordinary materials that because of what has been done to them, transcends their function.
Born in Coral Gables, Florida and raised in Baltimore Maryland, Cathy Breslaw received a BA degree in American Studies from George Washington University in Washington D.C., an MSW(masters of social work) from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont California. She currently lives and works in southern California. Breslaw is a contemporary visual artist who has had a series of solo and group exhibitions across the United States in museums, commercial galleries, art centers, college and university galleries and alternative spaces. Her work is a combination of drawings, wall, floor and installation pieces made primarily from industrial mesh but also includes mixed media of other types.
Solo Exhibitions
2010 Truckee College, TMCC Main Gallery, Light Moves, Reno, NV
Rose Center for the Arts, Lower Columbian College, Weightless, Longview, WA
Florida Atlantic University, John D. MacArthur Library, Material Resonance, Jupiter, FL
Gallery 825, Light Play, Los Angeles, CA
2009 West Valley Art Museum, Light Moves, Surprise, AZ
Chico Art Center, Chico, Discovery Series: Cathy Breslaw, Chico, CA
Charleston Heights Art Center, Main Gallery, Weightless, Las Vegas, NV
Earleville Art Center Opera House, East Art Gallery, Recent Discoveries, Binghamton,NY
Southern Oregon University, Stevenson Union Gallery, Tapestries of Light, Ashland, OR
Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Bever West Gallery,Topographies, Hamilton, OH
2008 University of St. Mary, Goppert Gallery, Reflections, Leavenworth, KS
Riverviews Artspace, Casting Rhythms, Lynchburg, VA
Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Novell Gallery, Suspension: Color and Light, Salisbury, NC
2005 Claremont Graduate University, East Gallery, Claremont, CA
2001 Falcon Arts Gallery, San Diego, CA
2000 First National Bank Building, San Diego, CA
2000 San Diego State University, Corporate Governance Institute, San Diego, CA
1999 First National Bank, San Diego, CA
1998 Wyndham Hotels Corporate Offices, Emerald Plaza, San Diego, CA
1997 Offtrack Gallery, Leucadia, CA
1995 Wyndham Hotels Corporate Offices, Emerald Plaza, San Diego, CA
1994 First National Bank, San Diego, CA
Corporate Collections
American Graphics Inc., San Diego, CA
GEA Power Cooling Systems, San Diego, CA
ADC Telecommunications, Minneapolis, MN
Che Bella, Phoenix, AZ
Frontier Analytics, La Jolla, CA
Maxwell Technologies, San Diego, CA
Residential Wholesale Mortgage Inc., Solana Beach, CA
Saign & Associates, Los Altos, CA
Amerigraph LLC, San Diego, CA
Selected Awards
2004-05 Sue Arlene Walker Memorial Fellowship, Claremont Graduate Univ,Claremont, CA
2003-04 Fellowship, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
1997 International Exhibition, Society of Experimental Painters, Sarasota, FL, Merit Award
1997 Twenty-ninth Annual National Art Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, Gold Medallion Award
cathybreslaw@roadrunner.com 858-692-2351 cell www.cathylbreslaw.com
