Catherine Knight
Catherine Knight in her Bristol Studio.
In our latest exhibition A Moment In Time Catherine Knight and Lucinda Oestreicher capture natural landscapes distilled in time.
In mid 2023 Catherine Knight was awarded the Mawddach Residency providing her with the opportunity to fully immerse herself in working from the natural landscape of Eryri. The artist found herself transfixed by the sense of time passing from a single window overlooking the Mawddach estuary which seemed to act as a frame containing the vastness of the sky beyond.
We spoke to Catherine in the lead up to her exhibition at Weald Contemporary to find out more…..
Hello Catherine! Could you please introduce yourself and say a little about what you do?
Catherine: Hi, I am a painter based at BV Studios, Bristol. I paint using oil and gouache, mainly landscapes, window views and recently the full moon. I have been painting for nearly 20 years now since I graduated from my BA and I also teach oil painting workshops.
(Image: Catherine Knight - 16:55 17th January, 2022, Lake Bled Slovenia.)
I first came across your work when you began your Isolation Windows project, could you explain how that came about and how it has evolved?
Catherine: The Isolation Window project evolved out my need to make work at a point when I had all my time taken from me. My sons were 2 ½ and 5 when the first lockdown started in 2020 and I found myself suddenly thrown into full time childcare. We quickly ditched any attempts at home schooling and just went out for lots of walks and forest adventures. I have often painted window views but at this particular moment in time, our windows became even more poignant. I put a call out on social media asking people to send me their Isolation Window view and I would then paint them in gouache and post them on Instagram, one a day. I carved out a small amount of time and painted them for a few hours every other evening and I set myself rigid boundaries, for example, they were all exactly the same sized piece of paper and they were titled with the name of the sender and their location. Because my younger son was an early riser, I would post them first thing and would often be the first post people saw when they looked at their phones in the morning. The project grew and reached many corners of the world.
It was such a strange time for everyone, in different ways, and I don’t think we have processed the effect it has had but this project offered me a bit of an escape and a way of connecting with many people. I felt like I was visiting different rooms, houses and lives in my imagination. Each time a new lockdown was announced, there was always a tiny consolation for me that I could paint more windows.
(Image: Catherine Knight - 03:28, 20th October, 2021 Totterdown, Bristol)
I then extended this project with my full moon series, this time asking people to send me their photos of the full moon from wherever they are in the world. I am interested in the idea that we are all looking at the same moon from different viewpoints, the same moon that our ancestors looked at. I like the random element of both these projects, that you don’t know who will respond or what they will send and also the sense of connection. If my painting can make a connection with somebody, that makes me happy.
(Image: Catherine Knight, Golden Hour, gouache on paper, framed size 46 x 36 cm, 2023)
Both Lucinda Oestreicher and yourself studies at Bath Spa University at different times but shared the experience of some incredible tutors including Michael Simpson and Maria Lalic - Can you tell me a bit more about your time there?
Catherine: I did a MA at Bath Spa in 2007-8 and I found it transformational. After a few years out of education, I really appreciated the full-time studio space and access to expert technical advice. Maria Lalic was my main tutor and I felt she gave me a sense of permission to fully explore ideas that I hadn’t quite had the maturity or confidence to develop on my BA. There was a focus on all the choices we make as painters- depth of canvas, whether the edges were painted or not, and on the value of surface preparation. I remember Michael Simpson being a charismatic visiting tutor and he used to guess whose paintings belonged to who as he believed that people in some way looked like their work (he guessed correctly.) He also urged us to keep painting, as it’s a hard road to take but you one that you must persist with.
The work included in your current exhibition A Moment in Time was created during your time on the Mawddach Residency, how was your time there and what drew you to the location?
Catherine: I was drawn to the stunning rural location of Eryri and the chance to have the time and space to fully immerse myself in painting. I initially applied with the intention of painting the full moon, “en plein air”, however due to cloud cover, I never actually saw the moon! In the end my main preoccupation was with the double-arched windows in the studio overlooking the Mawddach estuary, especially as night fell and the light changed. I often woke up in the night and would go and check at each window to see if the moon was visible, hence all the nocturnal images. The view was constantly changing with the tidal pull with a sand bar appearing and disappearing over the course of the day. I had an overwhelming feeling of being on board a ship with a sense of movement past the window.
(Image: Catherine Knight, Mirror, Oil on linen, 100 x 80cm, 2024)
What are you reading at the moment?
Catherine: I always have a big pile of books next to my bed and often get a bit obsessed with one author and do a deep dive. Recently, I have been reading all the work of Norwegian author, Karl Ove Knaussgard. A few years ago, it was Japanese author, Haruki Murakami. Currently, I am in love with Irish author, Clare Keegan, who has an incredible economy with words and can say so much in one crushingly good sentence. I also enjoy paintings that say a lot with perhaps very few marks, for example, Lois Dodd, so maybe there is a link there. But, to answer your question, I am currently reading Keegan’s short story collection, Antarctica.
There is a feeling of solidity and balance to your painting, the forms really belong to each other as they naturally occur. Is it the serendipity of finding the right composition / light or moment that drives you to take up residencies like Mawddach?
Catherine: I think residencies take you out of your normal routine and being alone in such a striking location will often lead to seeing things afresh. I am drawn to a sense of balance or calm, for example the sky reflected in the estuary, the evening sun falling on the studio wall, or the drama of when the sky turns dark just before a huge rainstorm. Capturing these fleeting moments is what interests me.
(Catherine Knight, Pause, oil on board, 30.5 x 23 cm)
If you could wake up tomorrow in any time or place in the world and stay for just one day, where and when would it be?
Catherine: I have thought long and hard about this one but since it has been such a cold, damp February here in Bristol, I would love a day in the heat of the New Mexico desert with Georgia O’Keeffe in, say, 1950 when she had moved permanently to Abiquiú. I would love to experience her calm presence and maybe go out walking with her. She is such a unique figure in art history, and I think her early watercolours are some of my favourite artworks. My mum gave me a book of her watercolours for my 16th birthday and I still love looking at them!
What do you have coming up in 2024?
Catherine: I am planning a trip to Munich which is where my grandfather was from and where he met my grandmother when they were both studying zoology in the late 1920’s before having to leave in 1933 due to having a Jewish surname. I have lots of photos that my grandmother took there and I am hoping to retrace some of her steps. I will also visit Murnau where Gabriele Munter lived and worked. A sense of place is very important to my work, and I am hoping that this trip will provide lots of new inspiration.
Did you have a favourite artist or illustrator growing up?
Catherine: It has always been about colour for me so as a teenager growing up in Cornwall, I discovered all the St.Ives artists and particularly loved the intense colours and freedom of Patrick Heron’s work. We saw a huge retrospective of Heron’s work and also a Pierre Bonnard show at the Tate Britain which had a big impact on me.
(Catherine Knight, Still Moment, oil on board, 30.5 x 23 cm)
As you may know, it is essential that we conclude with a studio playlist! Please would you let me have a 5-10 track studio playlist?
Catherine: This is so tricky! In the studio I tend to listen to 6 music because I like the sense of serendipity and also the feeling of connection to the rest of the world. I also listen to soundtracks, for example, The Bear soundtrack is amazing and allows me to hang onto the feeling that a TV series has given me. I love quite melancholy music such as Bonnie Prince Billy and Bill Callahan but if I want to get stuff done in the studio I might put on something a bit more energetic such as:
Nadine Shah- Topless Mother
Self Esteem- Fucking Wizardry
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Gold Lion
PJ Jarvey- This mess we’re in
Laura Marling- Only the Strong
Sophie Ellis Bexter- Murder on the Dancefloor (little nod to Saltburn here!)
All artwork featured in our exhibition A Moment in Time is now available to view and purchase HERE
Keep an eye out for our interview with Lucinda Oestreicher next week……