Reflected Study: Cathy Deuschle

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Author: Heather Eck (OVAC Intern)

Cathy Deuschle, Mirror Fragments I , oil on watercolor paper  23" x 18"

Tulsa artist Cathy Deuschle perceptually paintslight and geometrical elements at their finest in her Concept/OK Survey exhibition pieces, Mirror Fragments. Through the use of oil paints and a keen, patienteye, Deuschle manages to capture the way in which mirrors reflect light ontoeach other. Each mirror fragment reflects a view across from it, which makes a‘window’ appear to form a complex open ‘landscape’. These mirrored ‘landscapes’serve as a study of light, geometry, and composition. Deuschle informed mefurther of her inspirations and intent of MirroredFragments.

Cathy Deuschle, Mirror Fragments II , oil on watercolor paper  22" x 27"

Q:What inspired the creation of your Concept/OK piece?CD: The paintings selected for the Concept OKshow are from a series on mirror fragments reflecting into each other withinwhite surroundings.  Though mirrorreflections have entered my work before, the impetus to focus on them cameafter seeing Olafur Eliasson’s light installations at MOMA.  I wanted to explore and interpret with paintthat same interesting intersection of light, reflection and geometry using thesources and materials familiar to me: oil paint, local light, and common mirror glass. 
In painting these, the phrase ‘lost intranslation’ deepened in meaning because the attempt to approximate the everchanging light is very plainly restricted to what the pigments, time, and myperception will allow. Because of this, calibrating color relationships andlocking down the drawing was of heightened importance. I chose broken mirrorpieces because the irregular shapes signified them as objects with individualcharacter as well as utility. These pieces were entirely painted from directobservation.   

Cathy Deuschle, Mirror Fragments III , oil on watercolor paper  23" x 18"

Q:What is your favorite medium in which to work? Why so?CD: My favourite medium is oil paint. It is afluid and direct means of expression that allows for a lot of reworking which Itend to do.  I love the butteryconsistency, it’s responsiveness to touch, and the traces of personality thatcome through in the brushwork.
Q:What do you want viewers to take from your work? CD: This work asks the viewer to consider themeeting of representation and abstraction, the elemental nature of light, andthe value of subtlety.
Deuschle won an Award of Merit chosen by theguest curator Liza Statton. The Concept/OK: Art inOklahoma exhibition is open to the public through February 16, 2013 at the new Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council’s Hardesty ArtsCenter. See www.concept-ok.org formore information.