The Slowdown

In their two-person show, The Slowdown, artists Carla Weeks and Katrine Hildebrandt-Hussey explore the transcendent and intangible qualities of human experience. From the sacred properties of geometry and plant-derived dyes, to the divine qualities of architecture and abstraction, Carla and Katrine create totemic works of art that simultaneously energize and calm.  

For her newest works, Katrine dyes the fabric and paper using madder root and weld plant from a recent camping trip in the Catskills to create entirely plant-based mauve and chartreuse pigments. The warm tones achieved through boiling these plants over fire and the alchemical process of distilling plants into pigments evokes the feeling of time spent slowly and with intention. This harmony is extended into the construction of the work itself, which is crafted from bent reeds and carefully orchestrated burn marks that intermingle with dyed linen swatches cut into delicate rounds. Katrine’s compositions reverberate with distinct energetic frequencies, channeling the act of forces joining, weaving, pivoting, rotating and shifting together.

Through richly saturated tones of deep blue and ethereal tints of pewter and stone, Carla’s paintings rely on the formal qualities of geometry to create a meditative atmosphere. Considering the form of the arch in its architectural definition, as a curved structure capable of spanning space while supporting significant weight, Carla elaborates on this idea from a philosophical and aesthetic perspective. As an antidote to the unpredictable future we have collectively faced in the past year and a half, Carla’s work returns to the arch as a symbol of endurance while also offering a reprieve through the introspective qualities of the paintings themselves. 

As artists and creators, Katrine and Carla have materialized works that reflect on their own experiences, while projecting new aspirations for the future. The works featured in The Slowdown serve as a reminder of the interconnected quality of the world around us and create a viewpoint from which that world slows down, not to a standstill, but with pause.

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