Catherine Sieck works within the vein of ancestral and folk art traditions which accompany ritual, devotion, and storytelling.
Her talismanic drawings, cut with a sharp blade from paper and copper, are made as custom pieces to meet "threshold" moments. A new home, a marriage, the death of a loved one-- anything that might need some magical mirroring and marking.
A way of laying fragrant garlands of flowers over the threshold doors, over the bodies of the dead, over the headboards of the lover’s beds, over the holy wellsprings of the earth and of our hearts.
She seeks to make work imbued with the vitality of the cycles of death and rebirth. Apprenticing to the living world to try and get that lush/whole feeling right and letting the big archetypal, land-based stories hold the personal-sized, intimate story.
The elemental, the erotic, the mundane, the familial and the unfamiliar all tangle together in these pieces, as the cut-out style unifies them into one densely woven image. Deeply personal cosmologies speak directly to the recipient of the custom piece, yet offer something more universal as well.
She also makes and offers home goods and ritual objects, made from natural materials and old techniques, both for every day use and for accompanying potent life moments. Ranging from copper-adorned beeswax candles and wood-fired ceramic candleholders, to copper-adorned funerary shrouds & urns, to wool appliqué baby blankets, to seasonal gifts such as Christmas tree ornaments and Valentines.
Her 2022 book, Orbiting Whorl, moves between a personal, raw reckoning with death and a wider-view exploration of ancestral death practices & regeneration myths. It was published by Play Press, and features contributions from Sylvia V. Linsteadt, Rachel Blodgett, and Iruka Maria Toro. It is available to purchase in the Honeyed Pomegranates webshop.
To request information on the pricing and process of custom work, or ask any questions, please email:
catherinemariesieck@gmail.com
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