Catherine Armistead

Cat Armistead is a mixed media artist native to Charlotte, North Carolina. She incorporates a sense of movement in her work, referencing musical and topographic forms that mesmerize her. She layers different artistic processes to achieve rhythm and depth, while keeping her forms and concepts abstract. Cat loves to hike, and much of her inspiration comes from patterns and structures in forests. Her work includes large, cocoon structures made out of recycled plastic bags, steel and handmade paper sculptures, paintings, and one of a kind enamel jewelry. Cat graduated from the Tufts University and School of the Museum of Fine Arts dual degree program and has studied at Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and MassArt. Cat works out of her studio at Humphreys Street Studios and currently resides in Boston.

Cat has exhibited in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina, and Connecticut. Most recently, she received a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts and a full work-study scholarship to Penland School of Crafts to continue her work exploring large-scale steel sculpture.

Artist Statement

I’m a mixed media artist. I create sculptures, paintings, and jewelry using metal, paint, handmade paper, found objects, recycled materials, and mica. Aesthetically, I cultivate movement in my work and often disguise plastic as bark or styrofoam as a precious stone. I’m interested in creating layered meanings, especially with overlooked materials. The rhythm in my work is deeply influenced by the slow movements of water that carve caverns over centuries and diverge from rivers to oceans. At the same time, I’m also inspired by the resiliency, patterns, and quiet determination of lichen, mosses, and mycelium.Through my art, I explore questions like how might different materials (especially what currently ends up in landfills) be reclaimed or disguised by these pioneering organisms (mycelium/lichen/moss). The scale of these organisms inspire notions of “intimate immensity” that are central to my practice, as I aspire to make small-scale pieces feel immense and create moments of intimacy in large-scale pieces.

I strive to make work that is intricate yet accessible, regardless of your familiarity with art or the concepts I’m exploring. I work abstractly because I’m interested in what the viewer sees in my work and what worlds I can create without relying too closely on the one we live in.