Gallery Audio Tour
Grayslake Campus: A-Wing
Carrie Iverson
Catalyst | 200802Gr
Audio Tour
This audio clip describes Carrie Iverson's piece, "Catalyst".
Narration by: Gwethalyn Bronner
Length: 0:2:09 (two minutes and nine seconds)
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About the Piece
Catalyst, 2007Etching
Number: 2008.02 Gr
Exhibited at CLC: Carrie Iverson: Survey, 2008
Conceptual artists often combine elements that force the viewer to come to some conclusion regarding the meaning of the work. In this diptych, Iverson has depicted an exploding shell and a DNA stain. Since this work was executed in 2007, it falls into an historical context: the Iraq War.
Carrie Iverson is a young Chicago artist who grew up in rural West Virginia. She completed her BA at Yale and her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She works mainly with print media, but has branched into glass-fused images as well.
Narration Text
Many times when we view art we step into the shoes of a forensic scientist and gather clues to interpret what lies before us. Fortunately, in this case, Carrie Iverson has given us a brief explanation of her work. But first, let’s test our own skills and look at information we are given: the title, the date of the work, and somewhat identifiable images in the work of art. Catalyst is the title of the work which was done in 2007. There are two separate images: an explosion of some sort and scientific or medical imagery. The title indicates that one must be the catalyst for the other. Stacking the facts, we have “Catalyst + 2007 + explosion + scientific or medical imagery.” Maybe you have come to your own conclusion by now. Here is what the artist has to say in her own words…“I am interested in how evidence is presented and how events are reconstructed. Catalyst reflects the process of transition: objects in motion, imagery submerged just below the surface, and the traces of an explosion.”
“This etching shows the aftermath of an event, which is left intentionally ambiguous. Much of my source material is documentary; for this work I was looking at aerial photographs from the current Iraq war, explosion tests related to Hiroshima, and medical DNA imagery. I am interested in forensic science's ability to reconstruct an event from the shadows and [fragments of waste] left behind. Etching is particularly well suited to this process, as every step in the process of creating the plate remains in the final print, making it a visual record of the creation of the piece. (Iverson)”
Written by Jane Ellefson, Gallery Preparator, Robert T. Wright Gallery, College of Lake County.
Works cited:
Iverson, Carrie. “Re: Catalyst.” Email to Jane Ellefson. 19 June, 2008.
