Heatless Sock Curls, 22x30 in., graphite on paper

I set out to make a self portrait when I started this piece, and it ended up just reflecting what was on my mind at the time of its creation. Influenced by social media trends and Tik Tok horse girls, I was thinking about hair. I also got the fortune that’s depicted in Heatless Sock Curls in a fortune cookie at my favorite Chinese restaurant back home. When creating this piece, I was asking myself, what do I leave out of a self portrait? What do I include? What does this say about how I want others to see me, or how I want to see myself? I think this project was a way of working through that outward vs. inward identity.

Cate Stetson ‘29 is a multidisciplinary visual artist and writer from New York City. She is interested in how art can be used as a method of digesting and understanding the people and stories around her. Her most recent works have been in graphite, charcoal, and acrylic paint.
 

Fayerweather, 11x15 in,, ink on paper

This piece is an ink drawing of my dorm, Fayerweather, that I did as both an exercise in perspective and as an experiment with detail. I wanted to explore the balance of detail, and figure out where to directly represent it, and where to creatively fake it with texture, while still creating a believable image.

Man Moth, 22x30 in., graphite on paper

I’ve always been a lover of cryptid stories and the supernatural, and I was recently delighted by an Elizabeth Bishop poem titled The Man-Moth, which sent me down a rabbit hole of the humanity of monsters. This piece also takes inspiration from Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy.

Vacancy Part 1, both 11x15 in, charcoal and white conté crayon on paper

Part one of two works I did on negative space, I wanted to explore vacancy and emptiness with these observational still lifes. Contrast is such an important aspect of visual art, and I wanted to work it to the extreme.

Vacancy Part 2, both 11x15 in., charcoal and white conté crayon on paper

For part two of this small series, I was eager to apply what I had noticed and learned from Vacancy Part 1 to the human form. I was interested in how the biological aspect of this work created an almost scientific feel.

Currier Quad, 22x30 in., ink on paper

Currier Quad is a plein air ink drawing I did from the grass of the quad beyond my dorm. Similar to Fayerweather, I was thinking a lot about what detail to include or “fake,” but also how to adapt my shadows to the unique challenges of plein air, mainly the fact that the sun moves.

Still Life With a Pitcher, 22x30 in., charcoal on paper

I was drawn to this statue and its incompleteness, how it threw off the eye’s usual path of focus. I sought to focus on, instead of likeness, which is often what I am drawn to, capturing texture and movement.

Laocoön and His Sons, 10x12 in., graphite on paper

I did this study from life with a mechanical pencil at the Ashmolean Cast Gallery in Oxford, England. I was interested in this cast as a freeze frame of the complex conversation around the restoration of its original. In some ways, I think this study was my own attempt at the restoration of this piece; while it was an exercise, it was also a way for me to view the statue in its original form. Removing it from the context of the museum allowed the story to shine.

To The Bone, 14x11 in., acrylic on canvas board

Inspired by a family picture found buried in the depths of my grandparents’ basement, “To the Bone” is an exploration of my experience with the kind-of-nostalgia of looking at pictures of children who you have only known as adults. 

Still Life with a Self Portrait, 19x24 in., graphite on paper

In this graphite work, I sought to work with contrast, even in a relatively small value range in some places, to create texture and dimension.

Mannequin, 19x19 in., graphite on paper

In this piece, I was excited about incorporating fabric and transparency into an interesting composition which felt both abstract and surreal, while also being grounded by a very normal and plain background. Additionally, I incorporated expressive self portraits to contrast the passivity of the mannequin in the center of the piece.

Quilted, 11x14 in., acrylic on canvas board

This painting was an experiment in creating contrast with a limited color palette. I was curious about how I could imply form with the fewest brushstrokes possible. I was inspired by contemporary painter Jennifer Packer as well as Caravaggio’s portrait poses, particularly in the arms, which in his work I find to often be squished very close to the body and a little uncomfortable looking.

Elizabeth, 8.5x11 in., graphite on paper

This piece was inspired by work I was doing as a stage manager for a production of Pride and Prejudice. In between scenes, I recall observing a friend of mine who played Elizabeth, and grappling with the duality of her identities in that moment. Whether she was Elizabeth or Amalia, at that moment I wasn’t sure.