catherine widgery

Interview on the occasion of the 125th anniversay talk

2011-11-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

http://www.winchesterthurston.org/cf_news/view.cfm?newsid=398

Renowned Installation Artist Catherine Widgery ’71 Inspires WT
Posted 10/28/2011 05:51PM Article by Kathleen Bishop

“I’m trying to shift people’s consciousness about what art can be,” says renowned installation artist Catherine Widgery ’71, whose return to WT in October was a highlight of Reunion and the school’s 125th anniversary celebration. In a special 125th Anniversary Lecture to students, faculty, and alumnae/i, Widgery blended images of her work with a mesmerizing lecture that was equal parts autobiography, art seminar, and the candid sharing of wisdom gleaned from a life richly lived, addressing themes of passion, failure, rejection, the manifold gifts of taking risks and seeking new beginnings -- even the importance of eating right and exercising. Not only did she inspire the community with her messages, Widgery also thew herself wholeheartedly into Reunion activities, installing an exhibition now on display in the Art Gallery, attending the Friday luncheon and cocktail party, and strapping on shin guards for the ritual and hotly contested alum/student field hockey game on Saturday morning.

“Catherine Widgery is an internationally acclaimed artist. It meant so much to our entire school community that she was willing to elevate our 125th Reunion Weekend with a presentation on her extraordinary work and life,” says Head of School Gary Niels. “Our students and alums also deeply appreciated her candor and openness as a human being.”

“Catherine serves as a role model for our students,” adds Gaylen Westfall, Director of Development and Alumnae/i Relations. “Realizing that WT students can advance in their fields to be recognized and honored is an important step in stoking the aspirations of our students. Catherine was especially interesting in that she talked about not conforming and her willingness to experiment, break the rules, and explore. Her artwork utilizes new, different, and unusual technologies, and much of it is big—really big.”

Widgery’s works, including more than 30 site-specific public art projects across the U.S. and Canada, are woven into the environment, and they aren’t simply observed – they are experienced. Take Tidal Song, an interactive pedestrian bridge in New Rochelle, NY, immersing visitors in glorious waves of light, color, and sound through programmable LED lighting, motion sensors, speakers, and mouth blown glass. Or Light Storm, commissioned by the Mesa Center for the Arts in Mesa, AZ, in which more than 35,000 stainless steel discs pave an outdoor area spanning 30,000 square feet. The effect is transporting--swirling patterns revealed through light, emerging as if blown there by the wind--and so striking that upon meeting Widgery, an usher exclaimed, “Oh, you’re the artist! (Working here) is like walking in the Milky Way!”

Such reactions delight Widgery. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to make public art: bringing it to people who might not otherwise see art. I want to make people more alive in their awareness of their surroundings -- of the natural world, of the movement of invisible energies of light and wind, the changing time of day -- through interacting with my work. I want people to have a greater aliveness to them and with the world around them.”

Whether it’s project proposals, personal creations that nourish her soul and “provide the soil” for public works, or award-winning projects gracing the covers of Sculpture, Landscape Architecture, Espace, and World Sculpture News magazines, the person who demands the most of Widgery is Widgery herself, upholding standards instilled at WT.

“I learned the idea of rigor at Winchester Thurston, rigor of discipline and intellectual rigor. I’m the judge first and foremost, and (I ask myself), ‘Have I been lazy, a little sloppy? Have I really done it with enough rigor?’ I went to Yale,” says the cum laude graduate. “I went there equipped with the tools I needed. I didn’t feel as though I had to scramble to catch up because I’d been with such top-level people here: in terms of teaching, in terms of fellow students, in terms of guided excellence.”

Even today, Widgery credits – and carries with her – the legacies of influential teachers, including her own mother, Jeanne-Anna (Jan) Ayres Widgery ’37.

“My mother was one of my favorite teachers. She was amazing, and it gave me insight into something else about her that I never had seen until I was sitting as a student in her classroom. The deftness of her teaching…she would seem to say so little; she would just ask a question, and she would guide us so subtly toward thinking for ourselves.

“Ann Peterson. What she opened up for me was art history and the extraordinary way of seeing things that were done a very long time ago, and to feel them as immediate and alive for us today, even if it was done on a cave wall. To think about all art as being alive and about essential human experience, no matter when it was done, by whom or in what place. To become an artist after having had that experience… I still feel that way about good art--that it is a gift to humanity.

“From Sue Hershey and Susan Brownlee I learned there were not simple answers to any question. Whether in literature (Hershey) or history (Brownlee), questions could be interpreted in many different ways; there was no single right way to see or understand literature or history. It was about learning to think, which was true in my mother’s class as well. A great teacher gets you to do your own thinking, and that’s what I felt was so inspiring. And in the case of the “two Sues” – they were wonderful role models. They were young women, closer to my age, with humor, warmth, humanity, intelligence, and intellectual rigor. It was the idea of the kind of adult you wanted to become.

“I felt I could do anything,” continues Widgery, on what she learned at WT. “I thought there weren’t limitations on my future that were based on my being a woman. And that saved my life, I think, out there in the world, because I was able to not feel limited.”

Thus empowered, Widgery went on to Yale--where she graduated cum laude with Special Distinction in Fine Arts and the Walker Prize for outstanding artistic achievement--and the Tyler School of Art in Rome. In addition to Italy, the dual American and Canadian citizen has also lived in England, and currently divides her time between Boston, Montreal and Antigua, Guatemala. Throughout, Widgery consciously re-invented herself and her art, relishing the inspiration and new opportunities borne by each new beginning.

“We all need to be beginners at intervals,” asserts Widgery. “Learning a new language makes you a beginner again. We limit ourselves out of fear: fear of being a fool, fear of being embarrassed. Oh! Those things are so unimportant compared to the gifts you can receive, the experiences you can have, if you take the risks of being a beginner.

“In Guatemala, I was a beginner again,” she says of her 2003 move to Central America. “I felt like a child trying to communicate, and it felt marvelous! Tremendously liberating. At 55, I decided I wanted to take up rowing—and talk about feeling foolish. The recreational rowing group I went to join, they were like…you’ve never rowed? What are you doing here? This middle-aged woman shows up!” she laughs. “So I swallowed my pride, and now—what a feeling of empowerment to then be able to row. So each time when you’re a beginner, and you manage to (succeed)—you’re empowered to try it the next time. So that’s why it’s a good thing to be a beginner because it gives you the courage to try something else.”

And if failure or rejection follows? That’s valuable too, Widgery points out.

“There’s so much rejection in life, and the more you take risks, and the more you stretch to be in places where it’s not easy, you’re not comfortable, you’re not sure of yourself, you’re exposed to a lot of rejection-- you have to learn how to somehow let it flow over you and go by you, and you go on to the next thing.”

Today, Widgery spends half of each year in Guatemala. Besides rowing on Lago de Atitlan, she lives and works in a home she designed herself, nestled amidst lush vegetation just 30 kilometers from Volcán de Fuego (“Volcano of Fire”), one of two volcanoes she can see from her bathtub, and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. “Sound moves at one kilometer per second,” notes Widgery, “so when it erupts, I feel it 30 seconds later. Everything in Guatemala is geologic. This is why it’s so inspiring. The physical surroundings—there’s a kind of energy and beauty, a kind of vibration that’s exciting. I can see the night sky in a way we very rarely experience in North America. I see depths of stars—and it’s not flat, it’s dimensional. You don’t know how many stars are up there until you see it without light pollution. I can’t wait to get there and recoup and regenerate!”

It’s these lessons, and glimpses into her life, that Catherine Widgery eagerly, openly shared upon her return to WT: a gift for her enthralled audience (notes Visual Arts Department Chair Sally Allan, “It was special that students had a chance to hear her thoughts given that, as she said, ‘I sat in the exact chairs you sit in now.’ She was very generous with her time, volunteering to speak to Lower and Middle School classes before her lecture, as well as afterward to individual Upper School students interested in art. She even offered to keep in touch with them as they figure out their future plans to pursue art in college and as a career”) that she feels honored to have given.

“These are going to be the leaders who are changing and shaping our world, and I can’t say enough how honored I was to be chosen to speak during the 125th anniversary celebration and reunion weekend. This is a gift to me to share what I do, what my life has been. If that gives anybody even the slightest bit of inspiration to think out of the box for their own lives or their own careers… I thought it very important whenever I would hear someone talk about a life that sounded different. Because you don’t know what your life is going to be.”

See Catherine's work at www.widgery.com

Current exhibit at Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal

2010-07-26T15:43:00.001-04:00

(the following is a reprint from the web site of Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal)

APRIL 24 TO OCTOBER 3, 2010
With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, a proud partner in the event “Montréal City of Glass,” will offer an innovative look at its Permanent Collection in a dazzling new exhibition.

With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass showcases a dozen major works chosen from the Musée Collection and produced by nine artists. The presence of glass as a significant component is the principal basis for this selection.

Glass, neon and mirrors; sculpture, architecture and furniture; film screenings, miniature painting and the blank page of paper: these are all elements and media found in the narrative or demonstrative, formalist or poetic works brought together here.

A shattering mirror in Le Tournis, 2008, by Gwenaël Bélanger (Québec), fanciful miniature worlds depicted in negative view in Les Petits Métiers, 1985, and Les Offrandes, 1986, by Philippe Favier (France), a table lavishly set with glass dishes and a glass chandelier in Les Hôtes and Le Grand veilleur, 2007, by Claudie Gagnon (Québec), a glass house in the film installation Home, 1986, by Wyn Geleynse (Ontario), a glass filing cabinet holding blank sheets of paper in Classifié, 1994, by Claude Hamelin (Québec), a neon work in Ciboulette, 1968, by Jacques Hurtubise (Québec), a glass table based on the Fibonacci numerical sequence in Tavolo, 1978, by Mario Merz (Italy), transparency and opacity of filiation in Mère obscure, père ambigu, fils accompli : Agathe, 1994, by Stephen Schofield (Québec), glass and neon sails in La Salle, 1980, by Keith Sonnier (United States) and a surrealistic sculpture of a bathtub in an aquarium in Silence and Slow Time, 1994, by Catherine Widgery (Québec).

In photo: Catherine Widgery, Silence and Slow Time, 1994. Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal Collection.

Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

2009-07-17T10:30:00.002-04:00

Concept for an Iconic Bridge Structure as part of Metro Gold Line in California

An iconic structure has to have a strong, essentially simple gesture. I chose the circle for its reference to the wheel, movement and speed. Fully aware that the vast majority of those who see this bridge do so from the vehicles that pass beneath it, I wanted to heighten that experience so that it feels as if one is passing “through” the opening. This would be true for the passengers in the trains as well as in the cars. The challenge was to have both those who pass below and those who pass in the train slip through the circle as if through a portal into another space. By rotating the axis of the circle so that the ends land on either side of the bridge, there is a subtle but dynamic surprise. The cables that provide structural as well as visual power weave a play of lines. From a distance the circular arch is a strong graphic element growing more powerful as one approaches it. Like a marker to distinguish time and space, one would be aware of your shifting place in relation to it.

Lighting at night would be an important component to create the drama of an iconic structure. Colored LED’s whose long life and low energy consumption can be programmed to shift color and intensity. The lighting could possibly respond either to train or car traffic for an animated light show.

Bridge animation for Metro Golden Line

2009-07-17T10:29:00.003-04:00

Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

2009-07-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Iconic Bridge Structure for Metro Gold Line

2009-07-17T10:27:00.001-04:00

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:10:00.003-04:00

Light Wave

Concept

A curved line of sails animates the open courtyard as if a single piece of paper had floated into the space and we are seeing it through a series of moments in time. The supporting poles for the sails create a pedestrian space, a colonnade providing a shaded passage way between the music and theater wings as well as a gathering place and focus within the courtyard. The canopy is a shelter from the rain as well as the sun.

At night, computer controlled LED’s shine up onto the underside of the sails changing color and intensity and moving in sequence to create a sense of flow in a variety of patterns, from side to side, from the center out to the edges, with almost unlimited combinations of colors and rhythms possible. The computer controls can be set to respond to what is going on at the Center and custom light programs can be easily designed for specific events. The PVC coated polyester is translucent thus the color of the lights can be seen from above and below.

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:09:00.006-04:00

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:09:00.005-04:00

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:08:00.007-04:00

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:08:00.005-04:00

Light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:07:00.002-04:00

light Wave Public Art proposal for the UCF Performing Arts Center

2009-07-17T10:05:00.002-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:59:00.004-04:00

Sun Sails

Sun Sails are tensile shade structures grouped to form ribbons and wave forms that mimic the wave energy of water and wind. By assembling these tensile forms in a configuration that suggests movement, they provide a beautiful sculptural illusion of the wind’s animation while providing shade.

Each of these Sun Sails is a standard module whose configuration is adapted to different locations by a simple pivot system that allows for fine tuned adjustment of angles before being fixed permanently. In these renderings the sails are 11 x 17’, though scale could vary depending on the context.

Rigid tubes on the two short sides of the sails hold the fabric in a tensile curve while a pivot point in the center of these tubes is attached to upright poles of different heights. Taut cable along the remaining edges holds the fabric under tension. Sun Sails can be cantilevered out from buildings to lower the cost of cooling within buildings while providing shade for pedestrians. The waveforms can be grouped over open courtyards, sidewalks and parking lots by combining tension cables and rigid members so the columns have a minimal footprint on the ground. The tilt of the ribbon can respond to the prevailing angles of the sun through the hottest times of day and year. These single modules can be reconfigured in almost limitless ways thereby controlling costs while allowing for the maximum flexibility of sculptural form.

Energy Harvesting Textiles for Power Generation

There are numerous new energy harvesting textiles being developed by such companies as G24 Innovations Inc., AB Ludwig Svensson, Inc. and Intelligent Textiles Engineering working with innovative architecture firms such as Kennedy and Violich Architecture, Ltd. These fabrics are beautiful and durable and one of KVArchitects (http://www.kvarch.net/) designs (Soft House) can generate 16,000 watt hours of electricity. The basic structure of the Sun Sails can accommodate different materials as they become commercially available and the power generated can do everything from power the lighting to recharging car batteries in parking lots. In addition, modern lightweight fabrics such as Soltis 92 made by Ferrari (a polyester mesh with a PVC coating) are designed to last 20 years making them an affordable and realistic material if the budget doesn’t yet allow for energy harvesting textiles.

Illumination at Night

Lighting at night is as important as the shade during the day and is an integral part of the sense of movement and animation. This rhythmic flow of light using computer controlled LED lighting means waves of shifting color that can be programmed to respond to the season or some event or even to be interactive with the pedestrians. LED consumes little power and lasts a very long time so bulbs do not need to be frequently changed.

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:58:00.002-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:57:00.006-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:57:00.005-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:56:00.004-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:55:00.002-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:54:00.008-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:54:00.007-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:51:00.002-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:50:00.002-04:00

sun sails

2009-07-17T09:48:00.001-04:00

Images of Cloudbreak in progress

2009-06-04T15:33:00.005-04:00

This work is now installed. See http://www.widgery.com/cloudbreak.html for images of the finished work.

CLOUDBREAK (to be installed 2010)

2009-03-06T15:23:00.000-05:00

Cloudbreak, 2008. Glass and Steel,14 x 41 x 2’

This work was created for the Denver Justice Center jury assembly room.

In this work, light is a metaphor for insight and clarity in justice as it is throughout the Justice Center. As potential jurists sit and wait for their selection and instruction, the sun from the outside glows from behind the clouds as if from a higher plane of awareness. The shifting color and light as it plays over and through the glass is a meditation on transcendent beauty and it calls on each individual to reach for his or her higher self while taking on the serious responsibility as a juror.

Day and Night/Inside and Out

A key feature of CLOUDBREAK is that it can be seen from both inside and outside the building and is visible during the day and at night. The different lighting within and without causes it to be an ever changing experience. At night spotlights on the wall inside make this glowing a painting of light when seen from the outside and during the day as the sun moves, the experience of the wall changes.

The amorphous, luminous cloud of color and glass is held within the structure of the grid using the visual language reiterated throughout the architecture.

Details of Construction

Guided by the original design of the metal “reveal” included in the architect’s plans for this wall, a substantial metal structure (whose details will be determined by an engineer) holds the thousands of glass tubes in place. The original plaster wall has been replaced by a wall of approximately 11,200 glass tubes so that some of the translucency of the window on the left is continued through this wall.

Behind the wall of glass tubes the etched glass frit “skin” of the building allows the morning light from the east to illuminate the wall. The tubes vary in dimension between 1.5” to 3” in diameter. They are between 12” to 24” long. The side of the tube wall which is toward the outside glazing is covered with a permanent colored film with the altered photographic image of the clouds. (this is a photograph taken here in Colorado.) The glass transmits this color as well as the light, pulling it into the room.

Cary Town Hall, Cary, NC

2009-01-27T15:40:00.001-05:00

This is a shade structure for the Cary Town Hall in Cary, NC. I have approved the contract and am just waiting for them to give me the go ahead.

The gazebo structure in the grassy courtyard offers a dynamic visual focus as well as a shaded seating area during the hottest times of day. It is both a place and a sculpture that speaks to the expanding and embracing energies of Cary.

Inspired by the growth spiral of the local loblolly pine cones whose trees provided lumber that first shipped from what has become the town of Cary, the design speaks of the growth transformed into the high tech energy of the local community. Its material and airy lightness links it to the new Town Hall architecture.