Catharine Fichtner

Several years ago I started a new series of paintings inspired by clothing pattern schematics. This focus was based on my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and years of watching my ancestors make clothing, quilts, and lace. These crafts, plus the memory of living closely among the Amish, inspired an interest in fabric and clothing and how these second skins identify and divide us into class systems and ideologies. I work instinctively and experimentally and allow the process to dictate direction and meaning. Finding a way to coalesce the clumsiness of pushing paint to beauty and meaning will never get old to me. 

Fichtner received her B.F.A from Rhode Island School of Design and Tyler School of Art and her M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. Over the past 30 years her work has been included in shows in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York City. She currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA.