RACHEL CATLETT

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a visual artist and a farmer living on a Wisconsin sheep farm. I make paintings about relationship between the farm and the farmer, the land, and our connection to it. I am motivated by what it means to be a steward. Stewardship of the environment is central to regenerative farming practices. My images are centered on this story. I am most passionate about the work of farmers and ranchers. Farmers steward their land through their physical work. Through their labor, they connect intimately with the land, their animals, and the environment. Their work is inherently good. It is important. It is beautiful. I am infatuated by the sensual quality of oil paint and capturing gesture in brushstrokes. I love the physicality, immediacy, and fluidity of marks for the sake of marks. My aim is to make paintings that create tension and balance between marks that describe and marks that celebrate themselves. I work from life, from notes and photographs and from memories. For me, paintings are visual narratives. I am interested in how we keep our personal histories, how we remember, and how we carry each other both forward and backward, in our stories, from the past and into the future.

BROWN DOG FARM STUDIO, N5293 Kennel Rd, Sugar Creek WI 53121

WWW.BROWNDOGFARMWI.COM