STORY SYSTEMS || Cat Bates & Tim Christensen

On view July 2-31, 2022
Reception July 9, 5-7pm

In Story Systems, Cat Bates and Tim Christensen reveal the narrative properties of material through works that reflect the ecology and culture of life on the coast.

Cat Bates is a jeweler best known for incorporating metal casting and sailor knotting into his efficient, durable designs. He holds the belief that objects become more beautiful through use, and considers the marks left by his process and incurred through wear to be part of the work. The form and function of his pieces borrow from marine hardware and biological mechanics– oarlocks, buoys, and seagull bones, to name a few– while the surface quality is partly determined by the wearer’s lifestyle and body chemistry. Gradual shifts in texture and color from exposure to water, sun, and salt put each piece in collaboration with the wearer and the elements. By working almost exclusively in multiples, utilizing industrial manufacturing services, and celebrating tool marks as elements of design, Bates strikes a rare balance between artistry and economic accessibility. He is represented by boutiques across the country, and his work is collected internationally. 

Tim Christensen uses porcelain to tell stories of, and pay homage to nature. His intricate, black-and-white sgraffito works depict the ecosystems surrounding his off-grid studio in Roque Bluffs, Maine. Sea birds, schools of fish, and marine mammals, meticulously etched on the surface of his narrative works, serve as a celebration and record of life within a particular moment and place. The firing method is altered depending on the particular piece. For subjects that feel stable, gas firing is the most predictable and leaves little opportunity for natural surface variation. The caustic conditions of salt firing introduce elements of chance or chaos for subjects in a more precarious state - species or environments which may be lost to future generations. Christensen works in pottery, our longest unbroken historical record, with the goal of creating pieces which still speak clearly and convey the richness of our world in 10,000 years. He has been a potter since 1999, and shows his work internationally.