Caitlin Keogh, Knots Knots Knots
Bortolami Gallery
In Caitlin Keogh's acrylic paintings and pencil drawings, they use pattern, line and and the disembodied figure to find proper language and clarity. Ribbons manifest as metaphysical links, almost like nerve endings sending signals in-between both the literal body and the metaphorical representations of the internal self. Ribbons, a 90 by 67 inch acrylic on linen painting shows ribbons seemingly bursting in and out of the body, albeit a headless mannequin like representation of one, revealing the yellow gold interior inside the flat white imageless exterior. Red slits where the ribbon interlaces through skin give a semblance of pain and humanity in an otherwise impersonal illustrative image. The body is defined as a torso or a pair of legs, but without skin tone, just line cutting a flat shape out of a flat surface. Next to Ribbons is Embroidered Surface, a deep blue 96 by 72 inch acrylic painting of a cross knit series of lines being broken in out of by ribbons of varying color. Red, green, and even deeper blue fabric seems to almost sneak in and out gaps where the knit was not as tight. The black line of the blue knit mimics the black line of the slits in the body, and the space in the knit represents the openness of the body in Keogh's work, as something fragile and yet not tangible, contradictory.
Great description of the paintings and drawings, these are great! Through your writing, I can see the references of the body through the artist's use of line. I particularly enjoyed your read on the imagery of ribbons being a manifestation of metaphysical links. You provided me with a new perspective when looking at these works.
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