Cat Chow

Reflection
mirror, Saran wrap
4 x 20 x 20 in.

I am a passionate collector of visual elements that I strategically recombine into an aesthetically pleasing object. I transform the function and form of everyday materials until they become nearly unrecognizable, in which the familiar becomes the unexpected. I want the viewer to experience this phenomenon of what happens between the assumption of casualness and the discovery of intensity which creates an almost mundane surrealism. My work shares an obsession with repetition, pattern and accumulation. The pieces are immensely labor intensive and process-oriented. Once I decide to use a material, I must find a way to make it my own. If in experimenting with it, I cannot somehow build on its inherent qualities, then my work would be without meaning. I ask myself, how can I transform a material without destroying it and yet find a way to bring it closer to myself.

Elegantly simple in form, yet complex in construction, Cat Chow’s labor-intensive work, which began as a series of garments is fascinating for its intricacy and use of common materials in unexpected ways. She has exhibited in numerous design, art and contemporary craft shows, most notably at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the New Museum of Contemporary Art and The Museum at F.I.T. Cat Chow currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

For more information visit: www.cat-chow.com

© Cat Chow