View Februrary 1992, No. 2

Catherine Burgess was born in Alberta in 1953 and graduated from the University of Alberta Fine Arts Department in 1975. In the past thirty years she has mounted 24 solo exhibitions and participated in over 50 group shows, both nationally and internationally. Her sculptures are represented in over twenty public collections across Canada. Downtown Edmonton is home to two of her outdoor commissioned pieces: The Big Rock , 1995 (a collaborative sculpture done with Sandra Bromley) and Return , 2001.

Belonging to the formalist tradition of abstract steel sculpture associated with Edmonton art making, this artwork is one of a series of small welded steel sculptures. Beautifully minimal, it is composed of nonrepresentational forms. The careful placement of the objects gives heightened importance to the relationships between them. According to Burgess, the sculpture “takes the form of a tableaux or stage set, occupied by interacting geometric shapes that describe a narrative.” In her own words, “My work is about relationships and while I seek a sense of clarity in these relationships, my intent is not to arrive at a solution, or even a conclusion through order, but rather, to arrive at a place where contemplation can commence.” The artwork’s materiality — scale, bulk, presence, and tactility — plays a strong role in the response it evokes from the viewer. The eye follows the seams created by placing pieces of hard metal together and pauses at every weld. The size and scale of this piece allow the viewer to relate to the work on a personal level, and creates space for reflection on the symbolism or meaning of the artwork.