Catherine Reinhart

Sculpture: Worn artist’s work gloves, gold, black and silver beading, gold leaf

Dimensions varied.

2024

Sculpture: Found fence post, found quilt block, hand embroidered text, spray paint, 4’ w x 54” h x 35”d, 2020.

Diptych sculpture consisting of found fence posts and four flags with hand stitched text on both sides; MOTHER - unknown, WOMAN - unknown, LABOUR - unknown, MAKER - unknown. Camouflaged ‘unknown’ text references the common labeling seen on most historical quilts and domestic textiles. This colorful sculpture made from abandoned materials celebrates the countless hours of unseen labor involved in motherhood and art making.

Sculpture: Found fence post, found quilt top with hand-embroidered text, spray paint, 54"h x 3.5"w x 30"deep, 2022.

Rituals for Uncertainty is a two-sided soft sculpture consisting of a found fence post and a flag with hand-stitched text on both sides; one side the verbal affirmations we say to our children during our bedtime routine and the other a selection from the 23rd Psalm. This piece centers on the themes of anxiety and domestic ritual.

For full Blog and Interview, visit: KancanXArtists | Catherine Reinhart

Deconstructed Denim, 2022.

Commission | Artist Collaboration with Kancan Denim, Los Angelos, CA.

Leavings is a soft sculpture created from disassembled denim jeans that is exhibited on the floor and mounted to a vintage pink blanket. The themes of this work include invisible labor and archives.

Sculpture: plexi glass pillars, dirty socks, fiber and thread remnants, sheets, Various Heights, 2022.

Sibling Sediments is an group of five pillars filled with layers of fiber and used socks mimicking sediment. Each are the height of my friend's children and filled with fiber which reflects their character. The themes are familial dynamics and mapping motherhood.

Mixed Media Sculpture: Found objects, cast wax & paper, rubber house skins, 18"h x 49"w x 28"d, 2023.

Sculpture: crayon wax, velvet pillow, 4"l x 4"w x 3"h, 2023.

Sculpture: Wax and my daughter’s hair, 3"h x 4" w x 3"d, 2022.

Sculpture: cast paper pulp, 8” x 10” x 1”d, 2021.

Domestic detritus I is a collection of small sculptures made from layers of colorful paper pulp. These works were cast from the interior of vintage Polly Pocket toys circa the 1980s. The layers of paper mimic the build-up of sediment, referencing mapping, mapping, and archeological dig sites. This work examines the site of the home-place in my ongoing Topography of Dwelling Series.

Sculpture: Wax and human hair from mother and son, Approx. arrangement 3"h x 8"w x 8"d, 2022.

Small sculptures of cast wax house tops embedded with hair from three generations; the artist's, her father's, and her son's. These works are cast from children's toys and resemble homes destroyed by natural disasters; mudslides, tornados, or floods. Centers on themes of loss and lineage.

Sculpture: cast paper pulp, 12”w x 8” h x 1"d, 2021.

Domestic Detritus II is a sculptural diptych made from blue paper pulp. These works were cast from the interior of vintage Polly Pocket toys circa the 1980s. The blue color references blueprints used in mapping domestic and architectural spaces. These small sculptural works are visually similar to the grid of urban blocks and are arranged as objects in an archeological dig site.

Sculpture: cast paper pulp, Approx: 8" x 10" x 1" arrangement, 2021.

Domestic detritus V is a collection of small sculptures made from vibrant yellow paper pulp. These works were cast from the interior of vintage Polly Pocket toys circa the 1980s. These small sculptural works are visually similar to textile fragments and are arranged as objects in an archeological dig site. This work examines the site of the home-place in my ongoing Topography of Dwelling Series.

Embroidery on Found Quilt Block, 12 “x 12” x 20”, 2018

Spelled out in french knots, one side says breastFED, the other bottleFED. Bootle and breast are sewn atop one another referencing the confusing experience of navigating opinions, research, and judgement. FED is in bold, stating fed babies are the important thing, no matter which path is chosen.

While creating FED, I was looking at early protest signs - suffrage movement and Fair Labor in the Textile industry. These early signs were mostly made by women using fabric.

Embroidery on Found Quilt Block, 12 “x 12” x 20”, 2018

Embroidery on Found Quilt Block, 12 “x 12” x 20”, 2018

embroidery on found quilt block, 15.5” x 15” x 21.5”, 2019.

embroidery on found quilt block, 15.5” x 15” x 21.5”, 2019.

Flag work created from thrifted quilt block, inspired by historical labor union and suffrage banners. The text meek and weak are hand stitched atop one another on either side, making the text hard to read. This mimics my confusing feelings inherent when embodying these traits - particularly as a woman.

In our society was is the relationship between these traits? How are they attributed to gender? Can meekness, vulnerability, and weakness be strength? Shouldn’t they be.

Sculpture, EVR: 50" h 5" w x 5" d & MRR: 35.75"h 5" w x 5" d, 2020

Plexiglass sculptures the heights of my two young children filled with thread, references sedimentary layers of earth and the state of my laundry pile.

The choice of scale references the practice of marking heights upon the doorsill of a family home. A record of the passage of time, much like the strata of rocks.

Sculpture: plexi, cloth mask scraps, 5’ 4” h x 6.8 w x 6.8 d inches, 2020 - COVID.

Home Labours is a pillar filled with cloth mask scraps collected from home sewers across the nation. It stands the height of the average US female, whose unseen labours have made thousands of masks for the COVID-19 pandemic. This work is a relic, standing as evidence to the labour and care of this domestic army of artists, mothers, and makers.

Plexi-glass box, found threads, collected cloth mask scraps, 18" w x 18" h x 3” d, 2020

Industry: Cottage is a plexiglass sculpture created from waste cotton fluff and collected cloth mask scraps from home sewers. This sculpture memorializes the transformation and re-valuation of scrap cotton on a mass scale. It also visualizes the domestic labor involved in such a transformation, reminding us to honor those unpaid acts of care. Even the plexi-glass box was a reused item I obtained form my local university resale center.

Plexi-glass box, found threads, 6" w x 6" h x 3.5” d, 2020

One of a number of portions is a plexi glass sculpture filled compressed layers of cotton and cast off yarn, the sculpture situates "waste" material as a starting place and building block.

Plexi-glass box, found threads, 8"x 3.5" x 2.25" standard brick, 2020

Brick XVIIII is a small sculpture filled with threads. This sculpture is the size of a standard brick used in building homes. The threads were collected from projects made during the artist's isolation period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It references sedimentary layers of earth, serves as an artifact of studio practice, and is a study in the accretion of the domestic life.

Plexi-glass box, found threads, 8"x 3.5" x 2.25" standard brick, 2020

Brick XXIII is a small sculpture filled with threads. This sculpture is the size of a standard brick used in building homes. It contains cloth mask scraps collected from home sewers across the nation and cotton fluff from The Weaving Mill's 2020 W.A.R.P residency. It references sedimentary layers of earth, serves as an artifact of unseen labor, and is a study in the accretion of the domestic life.

Plexiglass boxes, hand dyed silk, cotton, linen fiber, found spools, 12" x 57" x 2", 2018.

Tablet weaving, found cedar plank, 2018.

This sculpture was created in response to visiting the Sandhills region of western Nebraska during an artist residency. The undulating weavings reflect the changing shadows over the expansive landscape that was once rolling sand dunes.

tablet weaving, found cedar plank

2018

Fiber: Wool Blanket, Found Hi-Vis Jacket, Hand stitching, 30" w x 22" h, 2024.

Land Labours is a wall-mounted fiber work made from found materials; vintage wool 'Dripsey' blankets from West Cork, Ireland and a hi-vis jacket donated from a deep sea welder. These works center on the Irish landscape and chart the invisible labor of manual workmen. It was created at my 2023 artist residency in West Cork, Ireland and influenced by my time there.

Fiber: Wool Blanket, spray paint, Hand piecing, 31"w x 24"h, 2024.

Neon Fleeces is a wall-mounted fiberwork made from found materials, vintage wool 'Dripsey' blankets sourced from West Cork, Ireland, and neon spray paint. This abstract hand pieced work is created from cut-offs and remnants and inspired by the Irish landscape dotted with fluorescent painted sheep. It was created at my 2023 artist residency in West Cork, Ireland and influenced by my time there.

Fiber: Wool Blanket, spray paint, Hand piecing, 24"w x 22"h, 2024.

Razzel-Dazzle Raimentsis a wall-mounted fiberwork made from found materials, vintage wool 'Dripsey' blankets sourced from West Cork, Ireland, and neon spray paint. This abstract hand pieced work is created from cut-offs and remnants and inspired by the Irish landscape dotted with fluorescent painted sheep. It was created at my 2023 artist residency in West Cork, Ireland and influenced by my time there.

Fiber: Wool, red silk, bundles of son's hair, 20"w x 8"h, 2024

An Antidote to Despair (for Gaza) is a fiber artwork consisting of eighteen bundles of curls wrapped in red silk lying on a wool shroud the shape of the Gaza Strip. The eighteen bundles are gathered from the artist’s son and represent the 1,800 children counted among the dead on Oct 23, 2024, a number now greatly surpassed due to the deadly conflict there.

Fiber: Disassembled baby carrier, mended in silk with silver buckles, 39” h x 51” w, 2022 - 2024

This work is a green wall-hung fiber artwork made from a faded and disassembled baby carrier. It will be mended in silk with jeweled buckles in cast silverwork and set gems. This work questions society's low view of the domestic labors of caregiving and situates this icon of childrearing as a precious object.

Fiber: Found polyester quilt, hand embroidered text, 64" w x 69"h, 2023.

Confession is a black, red, and white fiber work with hand embroidered text which says "I am dyslexic". The text is from a note written by my daughter. Work explores familial relationships, communication, and maps the domestic landscape.

Fiber: Hand embroidered text, found polyester quilt top, 18” x 18”, 2022.

I Will Need an Eternity of That, My Darling is a wall mounted flag work made from a disassembled polyester quilt top with the hand-embroidered text, a second of rest. This text comes from a note my daughter handed me. This work explores familial relationships, communication, and motherhood.

Fiber: Hand embroidered text, found polyester quilt top, glass towel rod, leather hangers, 18" w x 32"h, 2023.

Dissolution Warning is a wall-hung flag work made from a disassembled polyester quilt top with hand-embroidered and camouflaged text from a note from my daughter. The note warns us that our family is 'splitting up'. This work explores familial relationships, communication, and motherhood.

Fiber: Free-motion stitching, trapunto quilting, found block, 12" h x 35" w x 3" d, 2023.

Fiber: Dirty socks, hand embroidery, 24" h x 36" w, 2023.

In Praise of Socks is a fiber installation of abandoned socks covered in elaborate hand stitching. I drew inspiration from embroidered religious vestments and mimicked the pattern/color of each sock. This work honors all the forgotten and lonely socks of the world.

Fiber: Free-motion stitching, 27"h x 37"w , 2023.

waist | waste is a diaphanous wall-hung fiber work depicting a green and yellow 1950s apron motif. Using free-motion stitching, I achieved a lace or net-like quality. This piece centers on the power of heirloom possessions, domestic iconography, and my maternal experiences.

altered vest, machine stitching hand sewing, 2020.

New work in collaboration with Julie Briggs. Safe at Home is a series of ‘protections’ created using recycled textile materials bearing text.

These works amplify and examine our habitual linguistic and material responses to risk, fear, and distress in the domestic settings. They are, in part, a response to the current global pandemic COVID-19.

cross stitch affirmations on found textile, worn bandana, 19” x 46”, 2020.

Doing OK? consists of two thrifted vintage napkins cross-stitched with the affirmations "I am OK" and " I am fine" atop a red bandana well worn in the center. This work centers around issues of mental health, anxiety, and the exhausting experience of women mothering, working, and creating during a global pandemic.

“Period Pieces” are a series of flags created from a thrifted, pink blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Fiber: Embroidered French Knots on found blanket, 12'' w x 18'' h, 2021.

"Period Pieces: Treasure" is a flag with an embroidered symbol of a tooth. These Period Pieces are a series of flags created from a thrifted, blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Fiber: Embroidered French Knots, found blanket, 12.2'' w x 18'' h, 2021.

"Period Pieces: Hearth" is a flag with an embroidered symbol of a flame, representative of the hearth the historic seat of home. These Period Pieces are a series of flags created from a thrifted, pink blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Fiber: Embroidered French Knots, found blanket, 11.5'' w x 18'' h, 2021.

"Period Pieces: Panes" is a pink flag with an embroidered symbol of the window in my home. These Period Pieces are a series of flags created from a thrifted blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Fiber: Embroidered French Knots, found blanket, 13.2'' w x 22.5'' h, 2021.

"Period Pieces: Threshold" is a pink flag with an embroidered symbol of a bricked-up doorway. These Period Pieces are a series of flags created from a thrifted blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Fiber: Embroidered French Knots, found blanket, 12'' w x 18'' h, 2021.

"Period Pieces: Cups" is a pink flag with an embroidered symbol of a coffee cup. These Period Pieces are a series of flags created from a thrifted blanket and autobiographical symbols stitched in French knots. I only work on this series when I am menstruating or convalescing from illness.

Free motion stitching, trapunto quilting, 18" w x 15.5"h, 2020

Electric Green wall mounted fiber work created by tracing my son's dirty laundry, in this case his beloved flannel. The discarded item is the genesis for sewn marks mimicking topographical maps.

The imagined and quilted landscape is a map of the home-place.

Free motion stitching, trapunto quilting, 15.5" w x 19"h, 2020

Day-Glo Orange wall mounted fiber work created by tracing my son's dirty laundry, in this case his Finding Nemo training undies. The discarded item is the genesis for sewn mark mimicking topographical maps.

The imagined and quilted landscape is a map of the home-place.

Free motion stitching, trapunto quilting, 18" w x 15.5"h, 2020

Neon pink wall mounted fiber work created by tracing my daughter's dirty laundry, in this case her leggings . The discarded item is the genesis for sewn marks mimicking topographical maps.

The imagined and quilted landscape is a map of the home-place.

Free motion stitching, trapunto quilting, 58" w x 18"h, 2020

Pink triptych, wall mounted fiber work created by tracing my son's dirty laundry, in this case his single socks. The discarded items are the genesis for sewn marks mimicking topographical maps. In this case a string of islands.

The imagined and quilted landscape is a map of the home-place.

Sketch IV, Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Paintings, 22"x 20", 2014, $200 SOLD

Sketch XI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Forms of Collection: of layering (detail), Found leisure suit quilt squares and string painting, 39" x 5', 2014, $800

Sketch XII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Block and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Photograph, 13 “ x 19”, 2020.

Work is a before and after composite image from the textile installation of the same name. Right side – May 2020 and Left side – July 2020. Image communicates the evidence of dereliction of domestic duties and parallels the feeling of exhaustion felt during the current pandemic.

Photograph, 13“ x 19”, 2020

ketch XV, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 30" x 22", 2015, $275

Sketch XIX, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Sketch VI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String painting, 22"x 20", 2014, $200

Bricks & Blocks Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Grinnell Art Center, Grinnell, IA, 2018

Forms of Collection: of layering, Found leisure suit quilt squares and string painting, 39" x 5', 2014, $1,000

Forms of Union: of joining, Found leisure suit quilt blocks and string painting, 39" x 5', 2015 $500

Sketch V, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2014, $200

Sketch III, Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 30" x 22", 2014, $275 SOLD

Sketch XVI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Sketch XVII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 30"x 22", 2015, $275

Sketch XVIII, Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 30", 2015, $275

Sketch XX, Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Sketch XXI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2015, $200

Sketch XXIII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXIV, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $275

Sketch XXIX, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXV, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $275

Sketch XXVI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $275

ketch XXVII, Found Leisure Suit Quild Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 30", 2016, $275

Sketch XXVIII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $150 SOLD

Sketch XXX, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Block and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 30", 2016, $275

Sketch XXXIV, Found Leisure Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXV, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXVI, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXVII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 30", 2016, $275

Sketch XXXVIII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXX, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXXI, Found Leisure Quilt Blocks and String Paintings, 22" x 20", 2016 $200

Sketch XXXXII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXXIII, Found Leisure Suit Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Sketch XXXXIV, Found Leisure Quilt Blocks and String Painting, 22" x 20", 2016, $200

Video of Labor Objects Series, abandoned work gloves with gold, silver, and copper leaf.

2022 - ongoing.

Sculpture: Worn artist’s work gloves, gold, black and silver beading, gold leaf

Dimensions Variable.

2024

Found hat with silver leaf, 10"w x 6"h, 2023

Upcycled bag from childhood pants, 5"w x 8"h, circa. 1990's

This maternal | material object is one of the first objects I made as a child. It is a bag crudley made from a old pant leg. It demonstrates my earliest impulse at upcycling and creating objects from domestic items in my home.

Sculpture: paper pulp with gold leaf, 4"w x 8"h, 2024

Domestic detritus X is a small sculpture made from vibrant yellow paper pulp with gold leaf. This work was cast from the interior of vintage Polly Pocket toys circa the 1980s. These small sculptural works are visually similar to textile fragments and are arranged as objects in an archeological dig site. This work examines the site of the home-place in my ongoing Topography of Dwelling Series.

Sculpture: paper pulp with gold leaf, 8"w x 4"h, 2024

Domestic detritus IX is a small sculpture made from vibrant yellow paper pulp with gold leaf. This work was cast from the interior of vintage Polly Pocket toys circa the 1980s. These small sculptural works are visually similar to textile fragments and are arranged as objects in an archeological dig site. This work examines the site of the home-place in my ongoing Topography of Dwelling Series.

son’s hair, glassine envelope, 4” x 6”, 2019.

This work is a collection of my son’s hair in a handmade envelop. It is a study in the accretion of the domestic life and an artifact mapping the passage of familial time.

Locks of hair kept and pressed. Historically turned into jewelry, a momento mori of the deceased pressed behind glass.

What about an archive of the living?

A record of the little bodies that inhabited the places we tend to.

Envelopes full of curls - of light and joy.

Clippings of prairie grasses and dust sent to Australia.

Maternal Studies | Material studies is a small sculpture made from blue casting silicone and embedded vintage Christmas bulbs. The object is place on a light table to reveal its transparency and the embedded objects. It draws on nostalgia, museum taxonomies, and motherhood as site.

Credits

Produced by DEFT | Director of Photography / Editor : @brucejamesbales | Gaffer : @dumbdumbmcnastypants | Sound : @john.hennessey.baker | Camera PA : @mddkm

Photograph, 3.5” x 15.5”, 2019

Panoramic photograph capturing my toddler’s interaction with an outdoor work in progress, Shul located in our backyard. This image was a glitch. Yet it reflects the velocity of son’s movements and catalogues my labors as both artist and mother.

photograph, 2019.

This work is composite image of photograph of my son’s hair(left) and an image of a fiber installation(right). It is a study cataloging both the studio landscape and the domestic terrain.

Video of artist unpicking heirloom textile, 2019.

This work shows artist ripping out hand embroideries from an heirloom textile. This textile was made by her grandmother but never used. Work centers around ideas of the undervalued labor of motherhood and the baggage of inherited possessions.

video, 2019

Time lapse video showing artist disassembling quilt in her living room. This work is a record of the artists studio practice which takes place in her home among offspring. Conceptually, undoing is a vital part of both studio practice and the labors involved in raising children.

Mixed Media Sculpture: Found objects (cooking trivet, boot tread) with gold leaf, hair of mother, son and daughter, wax, copper, industrial foam, 25"h x 68"w x 16"d, 2023.

Installation of material objects related to maternal experience and mapping of the domestic landscape.

Hair Embroidery on handmade rice paper, 11"w x 9"h, 2024

Fiber: free motion stitching, found quilt border, 39" h x 67" w, 2021

Inland Surveying is a green and white fiber work in six sections created using my children's dirty laundry. The discarded items were the genesis for sewn marks mimicking topographical maps. It is an imagined and quilted landscape, a map of the home-place.

human hair, glassine envelope, light tablet, 8.5” x12”, 2019.

Work consists of a handmade envelop containing an ancestral relic, my grandmother’s hair placed on a light tablet. This piece refers to a tribute, a past performance work mourning her death. Taking an anthropologist's gaze, I treat this object as something you may find in a natural history museum. The tablet with ruler references museum cataloging and archiving practices.

Sculpture: plexi glass pillars, dirty socks, fiber and thread remnants, sheets, Various Heights, 2023.

Sibling Se[nt|d]iment is a group of five pillars filled with layers of fiber and used socks mimicking sediment. Each is the height of my friend's children and filled with fiber which reflects their character. The themes are familial dynamics and mapping motherhood.

Bundles & Burdens

Durational Performance, 2 hrs.

Description

Bundles & Burdens is a durational performance where the artist methodically wraps bundles of her son’s hair. This somber performance marks the passage of time, invisible labor, and small accumulations of loss that gather in the maternal experience.

What is lost and what is held?

How do we track the rituals of motherhood?

What incremental griefs and tender gestures remain invisible?

impression in grass, 7’ x 7"‘, 2019.

Composite image of a land work made in my backyard. This impression or print was made by killing the grass using a house-shaped frame from a previous installation, home[maker]. ‘Shul’ is Tibetan for path and this work is about my neglect of domestic duties, such as lawn maintenance.

Performance. 2011.

Three performers braided a length of translucent fiber while singing hymns in a darkened space. Performance is centered around grief. Inspired by the artist’s personal experience of watching her grandmother die as she set her hair, a final act of care and devotion.

Video documents artist Catherine Reinhart's performance, Bundles & Burdens. Sample Video of two-hour performance.

December 2022.

Bundles & Burdens is a durational performance where the artist methodically wraps bundles of her son’s hair. This somber performance marks the passage of time, invisible labor, and small accumulations of loss that gather in the maternal experience.

iPhone video, 2019.

take care is a set of two 'yard signs' made from an abandoned corduroy quilt. Embroidered in French knots, this simple installation extends a common Midwestern greeting to all in isolation. From our little family to yours, take care.

take care was created for ART-IN-PLACE, an initive that invites artists to exhibit an original work of art outside their home or from a window visible to the public between May 20- June 20, 2020.

MFA Thesis Exhibit | March 12 -16th, 2012, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A

immersive textile installation, 40’ h x 23’w, 2012.

Embroidery on found placemats, response notebook- socially engaged work, each placemat: 10” x 20”

TO SET A PLACE

to set a place is a new work made of two found placemats with the embroidered text of ‘the orphan’ and ‘the foreigner’. This socially engaged work will be displayed in galleries and will travel into people’s homes. This work’s intention is to reflect on what it means to be hospitable and what it looks like to set a place for ‘the other’. Included with this work is a notebook filled with prompts and the reflections of previous participants.

To set a place attempts to cultivate avenues for social inclusion through a call to radical hospitality. It begins a discourse about the value of diversity at our tables and in our institutions. Through the process of personal reflection of our own ‘otherness’ and the prompting to open our homes and institutions, this project aims to stimulate neighborly care for the marginalized in our communities.

To inquire about hosting this work in your home, workplace, or gallery please contact Catherine Reinhart at catherine342@gmail.com.

Embroidery on found placemats, response notebook- socially engaged work, each placemat: 10” x 20”

Host: Shannon Evans, backyard, 2018

“Inviting people in shouldn’t be an endeavor reserved for special occasions or preplanned events. Radical hospitality (which I would call the Gospel) takes place in the margins of life. Impromptu meals. Opened doors. Rides offered. Errands run. Kids supervised. Votes cast with others in mind.”

Host: Tim and Ashley Maurer, Ames, IA

Letters for Loved Ones - February 10th, 2020.

Host: Michelle Marie

@ohmichelleyeah

A performance form part of an in-house series developed for Artist Catherine Reinhart's traveling work, To Set a Place (works seen in background).

Depicted here is composition of some Valentine's Day sentiments.

Host: Astrid Bennett

Blog Post - www.astridhilgerbennett.com

“When I contemplated how to engage the “foreigner” and “orphan” placemats by Catherine Reinhart, I imagined a table for a shared meal with loved ones and new friends, a concept I learned long ago from my dear friends the Henegars, who were like family to me, in Bloomington, Indiana. In their farm home, “a place at the table” was always the operating principle. On any given night, there would be family, my husband and myself, various friends who were working or visiting, and new visitors who came to Warren through his contacts with Bread for the World, foreign visitors, or local students and faculty.”

Host: Elizabeth AR Mowers

@mamawritespoetry

A Place to Stay

A Place to Stay

We bought a dresser.

Made you a key.

Made space and

a room

for uncertainty

confusion

fear

anger.

You came with a bag and

a desktop worth

of familiarity.

You saw and accepted us

for what we were:

messy home

exhausted parents

wild kids.

You made room for us too.

Cleared dishes form th sink.

Mowed overgrown grass.

Enjoyed conversation and

Listening without fixing.

And without even a lot of effort

we found

life together

better.

Fiber Installation: Found quilt blocks, constructed cloth, hand stitching, tape. 7’w x 7’d x 12’h, 2014.

This site - specific fiber installation is hung from a house-shaped frame and can be lowered or raised using a pulley. This method was used historically to store quilts. The textiles are two sided; colorful on the exterior and plain with hand stitching on the interior. Conceptually, this work analyzes the differences between public and private spaces in relation to our homes.

Who do we grant access? What do we choose to hide and reveal?

What is the value of the unseen and unpaid labor that takes place in such spaces?

Labors often done by women and mothers.

engraving, 16” x 13”, 2011

Silkscreen, ink and graphite drawn notations on Kitakata, 38” x 68”, 2018 - 2019.

Work on paper created over the course of a year at three residency locations; Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts (Jan. 2018), Cedar Point Biological Station (May 2018) and Artist in Residence, ISU Design on Main Gallery (2019). This piece combines prints from previous textile works, marks mimicking topographical maps and notations from braiding my daughter’s hair. It is an amalgam of these various landscapes, reflecting my experience of them and the compression of time.

rubbing on graph paper, 12” x 12”, 2019

rubbing from found textiles, 7 “ x 28”, 2019.

Work on paper created by ‘frottage’ or rubbing with charcoal on Kitakata paper. These mark are created from rubbings of domestic textiles; such as doilies and hand embroidery. They mimic rock formations and sedimentary layers of earth. It is a record of the domestic landscape.

Graphite on found map, 37” x 27”, 2018.

Graphite on found map, 34” x 27”, 2018

Graphite on found map, 37” x 27”, 2018.

Graphite on found map, 30” x 24”, 2018.

Framed Work: Graphite on found map. 34” x 27”, 2018.

Weaving Sampler: Tablet weavings, plexi-glass box. 24” x 10”, 2018

graphite and ink drawing, collage, 25” x 25”, 2019

graphite and ink drawing, collage, 25” x 25”, 2019

digital printing, mono print, cut paper, chine colle, 25” x 31”, 2010

digital and mono printing, chine colle, 35” x 28”, 2010

digital print, mono print, cut paper chine colle, 28” x 33”, 2010

Relief printing, cyanotype and paper piecing, 12” x 12”, 2017

Lithograph and Embossment, 10” x 12”, 2010

International Co-hort meeting on Zoom due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Alyss Vernon

Process video for the second round of The Collective Mending Sessions.

Taking place virtually from October 2020 - March 2021.

Found paper (algorithmic graph paper), frottage (rubbing), 12” w x 50’ l, 2020.

Work on paper object from performance. This scroll contains rubbings from every gravestone marked ‘Mother’ in the cemetery beside my home. Created from a durational performance from March - July 2020 during the period of social isolation due the the COVID - 19 pandemic.

Photographs of artist’s hand after every performance of The Mother Rubbings.