Clyde Edgerton, Seascape + Blue Rain
Catherine + Clyde Edgerton
Cross Currents
Exhibition: November 6 2020 – February 13 2021
Download the exhibition brochure
We are privileged to live during a time when technology offers a means to join the spaces between us. Never before has it been so easy to see one another, hear the voices of our loved ones, and remain connected despite miles between us. Yet, access to digital communication can also create an illusory sense of intimacy. Father daughter artists Clyde and Catherine Edgerton turned to painting as an alternative exercise in connecting across space and time.
The project began with a snapshot Catherine took off the Florida coast after taking a job on board a boat. She and her father, who lives in Wilmington, NC, both painted their interpretation of the image. That initial exchange has evolved to include multiple images of spaces, people and animals from Florida to North Carolina. Through this work, the artists are able to transcend the physical distance between them while imbuing each image with their own experience and perspective. The lack of immediacy, the individual contemplation, and the solitary labor that goes into each painting is a stark contrast to the way in which we are now accustomed to communicating. The resulting exhibition takes the viewer on a journey not only through our changing southern environment, but also offers a glimpse into relationship between Catherine and Clyde.
The paintings are displayed in pairs offering an opportunity for the viewer to understand the power of individual interpretation and voice. These works serve as a reminder that we each experience and see things from a unique lens. While quick connections and exchanges are valuable in maintaining our relationships, this body of work is a testament to the importance of taking the time to engage with the people, places and things in our physical space, and to process and communicate our experience with those things in thoughtful ways. The ability to do this and to share our individual experiences with one another is key in forging our most meaningful connections.
ANNAH LEE // DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PROGRAMS
Catherine Edgerton, Sea Still the Sea
Catherine Edgerton has been inking, layering and stitching mixed-media records in hand-bound books since age fourteen. Her main areas of focus are race, the sea, and spiritual dis-ease in a sick society. In expansion of this work, Edgerton invites lens-shifting through stained glass. She uses transparent objects—bug wings, film slides, brake lights—to build kaleidoscopes and TV lanterns, juxtaposing the mundane with play to create surreal visions of patterns and light. In 2014 She co-founded the Durham Art Asylum, which builds creative pathways and reduces isolation among folks who struggle with mental health and addiction. Inspired by her dad, she started painting in 2015.
Clyde Edgerton, Aunt Lila in her Car
Clyde Edgerton started painting regularly in 2007 after making an acrylic painting of a 1950 Chrysler—a car that appeared in the novel The Bible Salesman. He soon switched to oils at the advice of his mentor and occasional teacher, Chip Hemingway. His daughter, Catherine Edgerton, is an inspiration and also provides gentle painterly suggestions now and then. He enjoys plein air painting and the occasional rendering of an old family photo. Edgerton was the featured artist of the 2015 Azalea Festival in Wilmington, NC. He teaches creative writing at UNC Wilmington. He lives in Wilmington with his wife, Kristina, and their children, Nathaniel, Ridley, and Truma.
