CATHERINE ERB
Floriferousness
Oct- 9 Nov 2024
Catherine Erb returns to David Lusk Gallery in Nashville with Floriferousness, a collection of dream-like photographybased frescos. This body of work draws from Erb’s ongoing practice of photographing everyday moments and transforming them into ethereal compositions that oscillate between the real and the imagined.
Each fresco in Floriferousness begins in a friend’s garden or flower bed. After receiving approval to cut blossoms, Erb quickly moves the blooms into a box of layered glass shelves with a mirror on the bottom. She arranges the blossoms on multiple shelves and points her camera down onto the composition. The photo is transferred into a negative and embedded onto a plaster panel and unearthed in the fresco material.
Later she allows the image to dictate further coloring, waxing, and removal of areas of the blossom composition. The layered blossoms hang in the air of the image, yet they are solidly encased in a rock-hard material.
This exhibition, like Erb’s previous exhibitions of clouds or marbles or roadsides, has a cinematic quality. Her images are moments stopped in time, but they have a perceivable continuation of movement. Likewise, the Floriferousness works transcend time due to the ancient material Erb uses to preserve her photographic images. The weight and permanence of the frescos ground these delicate scenes, allowing them to transcend time while existing within it. Her work draws viewers into a space where the physical and spiritual intersect, inviting contemplation and connection.
A native Memphian, Erb’s fascination with photography began in the late 80s when she had unlimited access to a camera and darkroom. After high school, she moved to Europe to work with photographers for several years before returning to Memphis. She continued to use her camera as a tool for visual journaling, and after discovering a digital darkroom, she began exploring alternative printing formats to create more extensive, conceptual bodies of work. She has had solo exhibitions in Nashville and Memphis; Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Washington, Connecticut. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, The New Southern, and Nashville Arts Magazine.
Bridal KW 1
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 47x47
2024
CD 1 2024 (Pinks)
Artwork List
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 42x60
2024
Grandmamma 1 2024
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 48x48
2024
Grandmamma 2, 2024
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 20x30
2024
Bridal Blue KW2
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 48x36
2024
EC Artemis Lunch
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 40x60
2024
CD 2 2024 (Blues)
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 40x60
2024
CD 3 2024
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 30x40
2024
Mother’s Day 2023
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 60x60
2024
GW 2023
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 36x60
2024
Miss. Ann Faded 2
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 36x34 2024
Miss. Ann 2, 2024
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 22x30 2024
Miss. Ann 3, 2024
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 40x60
2024
Miss. Ann 2024, 1
frescoed mixed media on plaster panel, 48x60
2024