The Fellowship of PAFA
Fellowship Virtual Gallery
CATHERINE HAVERKAMP
Catherine Haverkamp, MFA 2024
Attended PAFA 2022–2024
Statement:
I am a representational portrait painter, focusing on capturing the nuances of social exchanges that shape our sense of self and the basic human need to be seen. I work primarily with oil paint on large canvases, allowing the images to be close to, or life-sized. The portraits are often skewed and distorted, presented in a surreal but plausible posture that deviates from reality.
My work delves into the interchange between individual experiences and common traumas that influence our perceptions of inward, outward, and shared awareness. Currently, my primary subjects are my children, highlighting the friction in familial relationships as they intersect with identity. The life-sized figures in my work confront the normalization of apathy surrounding domestic issues through direct visualization. Isolated figures emphasize the focus on the individual, displaying the invisible effects of internalized trauma and its role in the formation of identity.