Catherine Berendsohn
Bio
Catherine Eileen Berendsohn was born in Miami Florida and has been an artist since her earliest childhood. She studied realism and was self- taught as a young girl, with her early focus on drawing portraits and fantasy characters. In high school she began taking demanding art courses such as Advanced Placement Art Portfolio. She attended college at Florida State University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art Studio with a Minor in Creative Writing. She studied under Carrie Anne Baade and Mark Messersmith for painting and developed works in sculpture and mold making. While at Florida State University she was a member of the collegiate Flying High Circus. Catherine Berendsohn feels a deep connection to Florida history and this has been reflected by her work at some of Florida’s most significant historic sites, such as Mission San Luis de Appalachee in Tallahassee, and the Deering Estate at Cutler in South Florida. She feels motivated by the importance of that which we must preserve from the past and the crafting of a sustainable design for the world’s future. She worked as an intern for Sustainable Tallahassee and has been an organizer for activists groups on behalf of the environment. This perspective informs her art and interconnectivity which brings together her various mediums, through writing, art, and performance.
Catherine Berendsohn has been a leading artist for the historic homestead museum known as the Lichgate in Tallahassee FL where she was the first artist in residence, and the only artist ever given permission to create work that interacted directly with the ancient Oak tree it is known for. She explores her inner worlds in order to create her outward manifestations of creativity. Fueling her passion by taking trips around the world and throughout America, Catherine has participated in many important cultural and world heritage events. She took an Artist Pilgrimage to Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada in the summer of 2013 after seeing the massive world sculptures and fire festival images in her Art Practices class years before in Art school. This greatly expanded her creative vision and sense of possibility. She explores themes of personal expansion and multidisciplinary interaction, through installations and group participation as well as mindfulness to the power of our connection to each other, nature, and the unknown.
Statement
I like to work in a range of media. I feel the creative process begins with an idea and goes through stages to become fully manifest. First is the idea in its highest frequency, thought, unformed but given inception. From thought comes word, description creates a mental image, the thought grows by being shared. This leads to the vision in the physical, a two dimensional drawing, a physical window, a frozen snapshot encompassing the idea. From this comes action, I like to take ideas to fully experienced life through enactments, video, acting, physical construction to be worn by the body, clothing and jewelry as a living canvas, engineered for practical movement in the three dimensional. I feel my greatest theme is inter-connectivity, disciplines that seem far reaching are in fact all linked. I feel this philosophy echoes my beliefs in the exploration of connection between my own inner worlds and the greater structure of the biological systems of nature. I see this as the tree of consciousness. By exploring Self I relate to the greater pattern. I often draw self portraits and portraits of nature as a reflection that all is still one.
RESUME
EDUCATION
MIAMI DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Educator’s Certificate
Temporary Instructor
July 2013- June 2018
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bachelor Degree
Studio Art Major, Minor in Creative Writing
May 2010 - Cum Laude
WORK EXPERIENCE
February 2014-Currently Employed Principal-Dr. Allison Harley 305.235.1360 x2233
Temporary Instructor for Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami, FL
Duties involve maintaining a positive learning environment for students and teaching the curriculum for a variety of classes. Focus in theater, creative writing, art portfolio, and dance
June 2014- September 2014 Owner-Alan Masaoka (831) 659-4953
Marketing Designer and Sales Associate for Masaoka Glass Design, Carmel Valley, CA
Responsible for marketing and outreach to designers and architects on behalf of the gallery and documenter of studio process. Creator of the Masaoka Glass Design Website: www.masaokaglassdesign.com
April 2012-June 2013 Exhibit Specialist-Kim Yantis 305.794.5662
Recreation Specialist for the Deering Estate at Cutler Miami, FL
Exhibits and Special Collections Department- Assistant to the Exhibit Specialist and researcher and creator of the botanist exhibit of John Kunkel Small.
June 2010-January 2012 Visitor Services Manager-Janelle Willingham 850.245.6406
Living History Interpreter for Mission San Luis, Tallahassee, FL
Living history interpreter and performer with Spanish Golden Age Theater Troup- Theater with a Mission. Performances include going on tour for the State of Florida and the Founding Day Annual Event at St. Augustine
Special projects include the initiation of and participation in the creation of the Department of Cultural Affairs Exhibit featuring Florida artists such as Clyde Butcher for LEED certification of the Grove House Museum
April 2009-March 2010 Owner- Joe Sobodowski 850. 591.9600
Artistic Director and Photographer for Simply Artistic Gallery Tallahassee, FL
Planner of gallery displays, recruiter for visiting artists, director of photography sessions, photographer using a Canon EOS 50D digital camera, photography editor
July-August 2007
Artist for Tu Tu Tango Café Coconut Grove, FL
Painter of acrylics and oils to enhance the ambience of the restaurant
EXHIBITS
Opening March 27th, 2015, ongoing
Creative Roots- An Exhibit Exploring Artistic Identity and Interconnection
Solo Show featuring photographs, oil painting, and a crystal interactive installation
October 2013
Outsider Gallery
Group Show featuring local talent. Pieces entered highlight use of India ink, acrylic, and pencil
May 2010
621 Gallery
Graduating Artist’s show, Chrysalis- piece featured a human container inspired by the artist’s experience in circus learning silk aerial arts.
April 2009
For the Love of Our Mothers
First Installation on the historic oak tree at the Lichgate museum, temporal piece- Mother Nature portrait in wet clay. Clay, moss, grass
June 2008
Our Back Yard- An Installation to Raise Awareness of the Gulf Oil Spill
A sensory installation show casing the clash of the Florida Gulf Oil Spill with the emblem of nature the Tree of Life. Featuring song performances and a rune fortune reader as some of the performers in the role of the World Tree.
SERVICE PROJECTS
March 2015
Community Center Mural in Little Haiti - Assisting Muralist to Artist Jerry Stecca
Painter of final details and lines for this community mural project
July 2014
Chalk Mural for LoKaL Restaurant in Carmel Valley, CA
Chalk art for renowned local restaurant
Art In Action- Florida State University Initiative 2009
Lee’s Grief and Counseling Center, Tallahassee, FL
Collaborative Project with Artist Elizabeth Gonzalez to create photographs and interactive boards for children in grief counseling.
The Gretchen Everhart School, Tallahassee, FL
Artists create portraits of students with mental disabilities to inspire a positive self-image
Breaking the Mold, Auction for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend, Tallahassee, FL
A fundraiser for the after school mentor’s program. Hosting artists created a unique abstract form of a caregiver and child and gave them to a select number of Tallahassee artists to create one of a kind artworks for auction. Winner of the highest bid
EXPERIENCES AND AWARDS
2015
Artist at MANO Art Sudio in the Sunset Art District
Painter at the Mano Fine Art Studio
Artist Pilgrimage- Burning Man 2013
A pilgrimage to the west coast of the United States culminating in the art and fire festival of Burning Man, which is the creative Mecca of some of the world’s largest sculptures
2006
Silver Knight Honorable Mention and Studio Art Silver Knight Representative for Miami Palmetto Senior High School
