I have created my own visual language to express a personal mythology.  The individual story becomes that of "Everywoman" through the universal language of art. As in primitive cultures, where people made art to help them understand life, death and the events of their lives, in recent years my work has become increasingly narrative, telling stories using pictures, form, line and color.  I draw upon the imagery of different mythological traditions to convey inner truth, for example, the ancient Green Man, who represents our oneness with the earth and the animating spirit that lives in nature.

My characters live in a timeless alternate world.  Their nudity celebrates the beauty of the human body.  The prominence of the human figure in my work results from the many years when I was a dancer and the body was the artistic instrument to express emotion and ideas.  The artist's model, each one unique in body and spirit, is my inspiration, my muse.  I prefer to work quickly and intuitively from the model, hoping to catch something eternal in the fleeting moment.  Later, a landscape or sense of place emerges, and the story begins to tell itself.  The two landscapes that recur most often in my work are landscapes of the human heart: the desert and the oasis.  Each symbolizes a stage in our life's journey. 

I believe that the universe is a balance of opposites: to see light there must be darkness, destruction is necessary for creation.  However, in these troubled times of global conflict, we are living in a world out of balance and the greater community needs its artists as never before. The role of the artist and of art in our world is no longer mere entertainment or decoration, but an essential force for healing and change.

Catherine Merrill (American) has been practicing the art of ceramics for more than twenty years. She earned her bachelor of fine arts from the Kansas City Art Institute. Catherine runs a ceramics studio in the historic Mission District of San Francisco. Before coming to San Francisco, she ran a studio for a number of years in Hawaii.

She has run workshops and lectured in the United States, Canada and Cuba. Some of the instutituions she has been associated with include The Honolulu Art Academy, Kansas City Art Institute, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco City College and the Union of Cuban Artists and Writers.

Her work has been shown internationally. She has received numerous awards including a 2001 residency in Santiago, Cuba.  She was artist-in-residence for HFAC with a grant from the Laila Art Fund in 2002. She was a presenter at the 2003 National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA.) She received the Jose Maria Heredia medal of Honor for her contribution to Cuban culture.

She has been published in Ceramics Art & Perception, Neue Keramik, the Studio Potter, NCECA Journal and the Art of Contemporary American Pottery. Catherine has published many articles on the ceramics discipline in Cuba.

For more information, see Catherine's Exhibit Resume and Articles. You can also download Catherine's Resume in a PDF Format