Catie O'Leary

ECHO POEMS

Biography

After seeing a Jess exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum, I abandoned all other art forms for collage. Using original engravings from antique books, I intuitively gravitate toward images that most interest me. The meticulously cut-out parts become puzzle pieces in my complex, multilayer collages. Each collage is densely composed, and, like a novel, it takes time to “read” the intimate, yet abstract, narratives. My recent work has been shown at the Oberpfalzer Kunsterhaus in Fronberg, Germany where I was an artist in residence over the summer of 2013.

I have shown at the Jack Fischer Gallery and Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco and have been in exhibitions at the Palo Alto Art Center, Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek and the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz California.

A California native, I received my MFA from Lone Mountain College in San Francisco, BA from UC Santa Barbara and AA from Cañada College in Redwood City, California. Additional work can be seen at www.catieoleary.com

Artist Statement

The images in my collages are original engraved illustrations from antique books. I intuitively gravitate toward images that interest me. The meticulously cut-out parts become puzzle pieces in my selection process creating a chain of associations. Each collage is densely composed and like a novel, it takes time to “read” the intimate yet abstract narratives.

To construct the collages, I layer and glue cut-out images from the books on book pages from the same period, creating a relationship between word and image. As I start composing, the appropriated familiar images of birds, animals, landscapes, drapery, architecture and scientific objects occupy a visual space together. The unexpected juxtapositions become embellished maps, poetic landscapes combining elements of nature encountering man.

www.catieoleary.com

Exhibitions

2017
- Echo Poems
  Catie O’Leary and Vanessa Woods, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Marvelous! International Exhibition of Collage, Assemblage and Construction
  Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
2016
- Metamorphic: Collage in the Dadaist/Surrealist Tradition
  Stanford Art Spaces, CA
- Judy’s Cabinet of Dada Curiosities & More
  r. Blitzer Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
- Sand City 2016 Juried Art Exhibition
  Sand City, CA
- Hybrid: A Collage Show
  traveling to the Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA
- ArtSeed Exhibit
  Thoreau Center Gallery, The Presidio, San Francisco, CA
2015
- Botanica: All Things Plant Life
  Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
- Hybrid: A Collage Show
  a.Muse Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015
- Left Coast Exhibition
  Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
2014
- Catamaran Art Show
  r. Blitzer Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
- (n)collage: a mixed media collage exhibit
  IceHouse Gallery, Petaluma, CA
- Catamaran Literary Reader - Vol. 2
  Issue 1 Winter 2014 - Collage Illustrations
- kolaj Magazine - Collage Artist Trading Cards - Pack
  San Francisco Center for the Book - Mail/Art/Book
2013
- 6 week residency at the Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus
  in Swandorf, Germany
- Copy.right?
  33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, IL
2011
- The Collage Show
  Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Reclamation: New Bay Area Collage
  Studio Quercus, Oakland, CA
- International Mail Art Exhibition
  Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, B.C. Canada
2010
- San Francisco Fine Art Fair
  Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Secret Drawings
  Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
- Unbound - A National Exhibition of Book Art
  Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek,CA
- Permutations from Nature’s Perimeter, Radius 2009
  Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
- Assemblage + Collage + Construction
  The Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
- Michael Rosenthal Gallery Mixed Metaphors and Obsessive Compulsive Behavior
  S.F.
- Arts on Fire XIII
  Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
- Structure and the Meaning of Life – ArtSeed
  Gallery Thoreau, The Presidio, CA
- Faculty Exhibition Cañada College
  Redwood City, CA
- Michael Rosenthal Contemporary Art
  Group Show, Redwood City, CA
2007
- Achenbach Inspired: Works on Paper
  Curated by ArtSeed
- The Point Gallery and Studio
  Hunters Point Shipyard Artists Studio, S.F., CA
2006
- Braunstein/Quay Gallery
  Access Program, San Francisco, CA
- Multiple Choice
  cabrillo gallery, Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA – merit award
- ZYZZYVA – Vol. XXII
  No. 1 Spring 2006 - Collage Illustrations
- Women Beyond Borders, permanent collection
  exhibit Palo Alto Art Center
2004
- The Ceremony of Tea
  Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
2003
- Cut, Copy, Paste: The Art of Contemporary Collage
  deSaisset Museum, Santa Clara University, CA
2001
- Objects Considered, Modern and Postmodern Still Life
  Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek
2000
- California Small Works
  Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, Santa Rosa, CA
- 1.0. Wonder
  Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
1999
- Artist’s Books/Art from Books/Sketchbooks
  Sunnyvale Creative Arts Center
1998
- Small Works
  Cecile Moochnek Gallery, Berkeley, CA
- Radius 1998
  Two person show, Palo Alto, CA
- Pulp Fictions: Works on Paper
  Texas Fine Art Associations, Austin, TX
- The Light is Diverse in California
  Center for the Visual Arts, Oakland, CA

Education

M.F.A. Lone Mountain College, San Francisco, CA
B.A. University of California, Santa Barbara
A.A. Cañada College, Redwood City, CA

Teaching Experience

Cañada College, Redwood City, CA, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA,
Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, Northwest Nazarene College, Nampa, Idaho,
Roosevelt Elementary, Boise, Idaho, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
teaching Beginning to Advanced Drawing , 2-D Design, Color Theory, Collage,
Assemblage, Artists Books, Etching, Relief Printmaking and Children Art