Exhibitions

CATHERINE ERB: ANGST

David Lusk Gallery Memphis / 97 Tillman November 7, 2017 - December 23, 2017

Catherine Erb

David Lusk Gallery Memphis ends the year with the exhibition Angst by Catherine Erb. This new group of painted photographs explores the nostalgia and meaningfulness experienced in personal treasures.

Erb uses layers of encaustic over her hand-toned photographs, creating a hazy veil that gives the work a dimension seldom attained in mere photographs. While keeping the clarity of the image intact, the work lands somewhere between painting and photograph.

She believes that “the result is not just an image, but a feeling and reminder that the magic always happens in the present. In my new work I am focusing on belongings that contain spirits, intent and thought. They are altars to special people in my life or the lives of people I care about. Rather than just existing as photographs of a pinned butterfly, arrow or slingshot, I want the sentimental feeling and a little bit of unsettledness to come through the images.”

Beginning with an image printed on watercolor paper, Erb mounts her photographs on birch panel, subtlety manipulating each first with soft pigments, then with as many as twenty layers of tinted wax.

Erb’s fascination with photography led to a regular practice in the late 80s when she had unlimited access to a camera and dark room. After high school, she moved to Europe to work with photographers for several years before returning to Memphis. Using her camera as a visual journal, Erb discovered a digital darkroom and began creating her own pigment prints as well as exploring alternative ways to print her work. This year alone she has had solo exhibitions in Austin TX, Nashville TN, Savannah GA, and Greenwich CT.