Meet NUNUM's Fall 2018 Contributors: Catherine Skinner

11/27/2018

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Catherine Skinner

Catherine Skinner

We couldn't have been happier when Catherine's work appeared here, it was the one thing we'd been waiting for to pull 'Frogs' together in just the symbiotic kind way we love to do things here.
Catherine has lived in the Northwest most of her life, a graduate of Stanford University, who has always been drawn to the arts.

To keep up with Catherine you can skip on over to her website or her facebook site. Twitter and Pinterest can also help you get your daily dose. And of course, the best thing to do is follow NUNUM and enjoy the future treats from Catherine that we are dying to share with you all.

The Marking Code series pursues a deeper investigation of the symbolic number 108, sacred to Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Eliminating figuration, these encaustic paintings are structured through a variety of counting systems – from primitive tally marks and I Ching notations to binary coding, all encompassing the 108 count and encoding of “one hundred eight”. Counting and measuring have been our way to order the disorder around us, from drawing in the sand to codes delivering instant information. Employing oil stick and encaustic wax on panel, the work explores numerological

Binary 108 by Catherine Skinner

systems from around our world, alongside present-day computer codes. These encryptions are developed into complex patterns, yielding abstractions evocative of ancient textiles, wall graffiti, and partially erased blackboards. Using a wide array of gestures – from delicate tracery to incising with a stick, there are single strokes of large antique sumi-brushes to finger marks dragging paints across the surface. Each piece becomes its own offering to the basic elements of our natural systems, a modern mandala with new possibilities.