Shadow Spirits
The earth in Ancient Egypt was named Ta Mara.
Pyramids and places of power were placed on intersections of the ley,
magnetic lines of energy that crisscross the earth.
So stand the ruins of the Incas and the stones of the Celts,
the power in the place and in the stone formed by man’s hand.
Mythology resonates with calling into being, the animals and ourselves, the root of our names
being sung to become realization.
We are magnetized with our blood and bone for our earth journey.
If we listen, we belong to the rhythms of the earth and its inner dreams.
Our tracks are as the birds’ trails of migration, magnetized with the repetition of many that have
traveled the same path.
If we stand in the vortices of the ley, we become a part of the whole.
If we become still and silent, we feel the four winds and the sky.
We are then one with our kin of the past, the present and the future.
We are then one with the energies of it all.
Artist’s Statement
Catherine Eaton Skinner’s work is centered on the balance of opposites, as well as methods of numerical systems and patterning we use to construct an order to our world. Thus, much of her art encompasses intriguing repetition and multiplicity. Her art has depths of layers that affirm her desire to allow a work to be beautiful as well as spiritual.
Her creative sensibilities and stimuli are owed in part to growing up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States surrounded by the fresh and salt waters, majestic mountains and old growth forests. Drawn to marking methods that have been used by peoples and even some animals to indicate presence and construct a deeper relationship to place and nature, Skinner moves from the simplicity of tantric forms to the complexities of grids. She reflects, “We live in a world where it may be difficult to feel a part of the whole, but we continue trying to find ways to connect to place and to each other.” Her various series of works give expression to her journeys through many cultures over the years.
