Q&A with Catie Cook
Catie Cook is a painter who was raised in North Georgia. Her work primarily takes the form of large-scale oil and acrylic paintings, dealing with themes of hyperfemininity and girlhood. She draws inspiration from her childhood growing up in the south, old Hollywood cinema, and popular culture. Cook’s work attempts to simultaneously celebrate and critique our understanding of modern day femininity.
Briefly describe your thesis project. What themes are you exploring, and in what mediums/with what materials?
My thesis work is a 12’ x 8’ oil painting on canvas. At its base level, I hope to present the audience with a simulacrum of a golf course nestled in the mountains of north Georgia. Depicting a stage set, the image is a convincing imitation, but one the audience knows is constructed by plywood flats and matte painting.
Posited by philosopher Jean Baudrillard, the simulacrum is the idea that our reality has been replaced by an unsatisfactory simulation of reality. Deeply intertwined with psychologist Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny — something that is both familiar and foreign — my painting of a stage set, already artificially representing trees and grass, becomes even further distanced from real nature when rendered as an oil painting. The painting explores the artifice and performance embedded in American life, particularly in the American south. Through the framing device of the curtain and the use of the spotlight, I implicate the viewer as an audience member, presenting a complex narrative informed by my upbringing as a woman in the American South immersed in gender performance and genteel notions of control and superiority.
The central figure in nearly all of my paintings, the Dalmatian can be pictured leaping from the stage, breaking the fourth wall to make eye contact with the viewer. I am interested in the canine motif as a mirror for our culture’s treatment towards women, creating intricate characters who are paradoxically loyal and defiant, obedient and troublesome, beautiful and threatening. Disillusioned with painting the female figure — so often exploited in the history of art and in our contemporary culture — I saw designer dogs as a proxy for women.
What do you hope someone feels when they experience your work?
Beauty is a powerful tool that, when used effectively, can act as a trojan horse. In the case of Southern culture, beauty has been used as an oppressive tool to uphold white supremacy and the patriarchy. I believe that it has the capacity to reveal and criticize the ideals it has been used to maintain. In my paintings, I use the beauty of oil paint and aestheticized imagery to captivate the viewer’s attention and consideration — a currency of great value in our contemporary life. The paintings are not intended to romanticize or fetishize this imagery, as I am aware of the harm that this can cause. Instead, they are meant to reveal how this beauty works as an apparatus to obscure. It is my hope that by sticking with the image, viewers begin to unravel the hidden messaging and question their own attraction to it. Like a reverse paper tiger, my images are outwardly frivolous, but in the details, they explore the complexities of beauty and its profound effects on American culture.
Was there anyone early in life who had a big influence on your creativity?
This may seem dramatic, but I am a dramatic person, so bear with me. I come from a family of creatives. My grandmother was a painter and my dad is a scenic designer, so I spent a lot of time making art and watching people I loved make art — particularly on the stage. The theatre and all its enchantment served as the backdrop to my childhood, the birthplace of my imagination, and the foundation for my love of storytelling. Racks of costumes made of feathers and sequins were my hide-and-seek spots, Shakespeare’s sonnets were my nursery rhymes, and the stage was my playground. I believe that growing up the child of artists has a profound effect on your worldview, values, and work ethic. I am privileged to have learned at an early age that being an artist is not only a legitimate career path, but one that should be celebrated and fought for. I never questioned my decision to pursue painting because it was so much a part of who I am. Theatre is essentially “make believe,” a game every child plays but often abandons when it begins to feel silly or embarrassing. Falling in love with the theatre through my dad’s artwork kept “pretending” alive for me and I truly believe it is where my painting inspiration comes from. Likewise, seeing my dad’s designs come to life instilled in me that no canvas is too big and no idea is too crazy to turn into a reality, as long as you’re willing to put in the work.
Catie Cook with her art. (Photo: Caitlin Custer)
Are there any faculty, courses, making spaces, or other WashU resources that have had a big impact on you?
I am especially grateful to my mentor, Jamie Adams, for sharing with me some of the secrets to his mastery of oil painting, his patience in working through problems and ideas, and above all, his unwavering kindness and support. I’d also like to thank Joe DeVera for his endless support and countless inspiring conversations on painting, life, and how to envision a better future. Heather Bennett, another role model and mentor to me, is one of the kindest and most inspiring professors I’ve had the privilege to study from. Her course Contemporary Discourses: Art + Feminism should be required for its fundamental breakdown of the women artists who began the discourse so many young artists hope to contribute to today. Finally, I’d like to thank Cheryl Wassenaar for her exceptional mentorship as both a graduate professor and working as her teaching assistant.
Did you always know this would be your final project? When or how did you figure it out?
When I first got to grad school, I always imagined that I would work at a scale like this. I envisioned an immersive painting that echoed the great historical and contemporary painters I studied in school and on the walls of museums. However, I never could have foreseen the direction the content of my paintings would take. I started the program as a still life painter, and as time progressed, my paintings took on more and more imagery of the theatre, the American South, and animals. Though I still see traces of still life painting in my compositions, and the way I build up paint, the painting you see today is completely new to me. Last fall, I knew that I wanted to create a large theatrical scene with my iconic characters running through. However, I continually imagined one closed curtain. It wasn’t until I stumbled across old images of stage sets for forests that I began to work with the idea of opening the curtain.
How does your research interact with this project?
My paintings are deeply inspired by the study of gender, particularly Judith Butler’s concept of gender performance, Laura Mulvey’s concept of the male gaze, Naomi Wolf’s “The Beauty Myth,” and Sigmund Freud’s uncanny, and the comparison of women and animals dating back to antiquity. In my research, I explore ways in which the patriarchy has shaped not only cultural perception of women, but the way that women perceive themselves. However, painting has an interesting way of taking on a life of its own. Often, a painting that starts with a simple idea about scopophilia or the commodification of women shift and morphs into a painting that cannot be pinned down. Through the use of symbolism, like the canine motif as a stand-in for the female figure, or theatrical devices, like the spotlight to refer to the performativity of American culture, my paintings begin to develop their own visual language and build their own reality. While I hope that viewers capture a sense of what I intend to convey in the painting, I know that my research is the inspiration for the work and how it evolves in paint will be as much a part of the conceptual exploration as the content is.
