Philadelphia artist planning talk, workshop September 25 at Northwestern

September 18, 2018

Artist-in-Residence Kelly Catenacci displays some of the artwork she has created with walnut ink since coming to Northwestern to begin her month-long residency with the visual arts program.

Philadelphia native Kelly Catenacci is this month’s Artist-in-Residence with the Visual Arts program at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. She is planning an artist talk and workshop on Sept. 25 in Jesse Dunn Annex, room 324. The talk will begin at 6 p.m. with the workshop following from 7-9 p.m. These events are free and open to the public.

Catenacci, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Moore College of Art & Design in 2008 and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Boston University in 2015, will talk about her work and how it has evolved through the years. The workshop will involve a large scale of collaborative drawing using just sheets of paper.

 “It’s a really fun interesting way to approach drawing without your normal pencil, markers, etc.,” Catenacci said.

Catenacci also will be showing the work she created while on campus during the First Friday Art Walk on Oct. 5 in Jesse Dunn Annex from 3-5 p.m. and downtown at the Graceful Arts Center and Runnymede Hotel from 6-8 p.m.

During her stay in Alva and thanks to the downtown art shop, Gallery VIP, Catenacci said she discovered a new form of painting using walnut ink. Most of her work for First Friday will be done with this new obsession of walnut ink while another part will be with the walnut ink she made herself.        

“I think it’s kind of cool to make some drawings with ink that’s made from the earth here in Oklahoma,” Catenacci said.  

Cattenaci explained that sometimes her artwork is made up as she goes. 

 “It’s really a process of just layering shapes and colors,” Cattenacci said. “I may not have a clear direction, but I’m constantly looking around at what I see, what I am surrounded by and the experiences I have. I try to really go with my gut on everything and afterwards pinpoint what made me go with what I did.”

This is Catenacci’s first Artist-in-Residence experience, but said she plans to attend more in the future.

To learn more about Northwestern’s Visual Arts program or the Artist-in-Residence program, contact Kyle Larson, assistant professor of art, at (580) 327-8108 or krlarson@nwosu.edu.

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