The Winner of the 2022 annual Grosse Pointe News 'Finer Pointes' Art contest, Catherine Sweeney is an incredible young talent to watch. Trained in a variety of mediums, she started creating metal sculptures in 2017 as a way to overcome a mental health crisis that was devouring her. Fighting the metal she was fighting her demons and that got her into a brighter place. Her winning sculpture "Midst of Winter" was praised by the juror, painter Richard Wilson, as an outstanding sculpture well deserving of first place. “Firstly, it’s just something that stops you in your tracks visually and then is hard to walk away from. How was it made? What’s the meaning behind it? Many questions sprang to mind. Also how she managed to turn cold, hard, and sharp metal, actually dangerous as individual pieces, into something that brings an idea of softness like feathers. I’ve never seen anything like it and was overwhelmed at this.”
Catherine’s artwork, in her own words, "chronicles the ongoing struggle to reach within oneself to piece together the broken fragments and give life to new hope". Her creations remind us of beings from imaginary worlds that evoke obscure and deep feelings we have all experienced at some time in our lives. Reassuring us that there's beauty to be found in the ugly, light to be found in darkness, softness in the harsh.
It's important in today's world of Insta-perfect appearances, to give visibility and validation to the whole spectrum of human emotions and to celebrate brave young artists like Catherine who put themselves out there and inspire the community.
For updated information about Catherine's artworks you can contact me below.