Paul Scott Gallery | 2/10-2/22 | Scottsdale, AZ

Strong Beauty

Cathrine Elinger-Kunze debuts a new collection of emotional driven figurative works at Paul Scott Gallery.

At Paul Scott Gallery in early February, collectors will find the diverse, powerful figurative paintings of Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze. This new collection of work, while in Edlinger-Kunze’s distinct, expressionist style, focuses on the complexities of female emotion. The artist’s intuitive process reaches the hearts and minds of her viewers and keeps them coming back for more at every glance.Angel on My Shoulder, oil on linen, 20 x 16"The show title, Leontine, from French and Latin origins meaning “lion-like,” sets the tone for the collection of work as it illustrates Edlinger-Kunze’s intentions. “Women are strong, vulnerable and show lots of emotions; sweet or maybe sassy, but beauty has so many different definitions,” the artist explains. “It’s time for women to be women again with all their vulnerability, but I want everyone to take them seriously because they are stronger than what you give them credit for.”

Edlinger-Kunze mainly depicts women in her work because it come more naturally to her. “Since I’m approaching [these subjects] from very much inside myself, I know women better than I know men,” she says. Gallery owner Paul Eubanks adds, “We encouraged Cathrine to give us a show unhindered by any preconceived ideas or past norms and paint on instinct. She delivered. Her body of work reflects raw emotions and mood and a whole lot of originality.” Evermore, oil on linen, 36 x 28"In Angel on My Shoulder, Edlinger-Kunze features a quite pensive woman, but “her eyes show strength and support.” Her use of blue—a color that gives the artist a lot of comfort—around the figure’s head is another element that she uses to portray feeling. “I want [the viewer] to see diversity in how you can show a woman,” says Edlinger-Kunze. “I want to show the differences in women by also treating the paintings differently. I sometimes apply thicker paint or very thin, so it depends on what emotion I want to trigger.”

She also likes to incorporate surprise elements that are not always seen at first glance. The “angel on her shoulder” happens to be a cat.

Edlinger-Kunze prefers not to use models to further her unique, instinctual process, so as to “catch what’s inside and on the canvas, instead of a third party that would distract me from the zone I’m in,” she says. “I don’t plan my paintings at all.Strawberry Kisses, oil on linen, 12 x 12"

I start very loosely and very fast, just putting down and blocking in some color…So I start very loose and then something triggers a shape. I let myself go and try to find what’s already there in the canvas.”

In her piece Evermore, the artist notes how its development went through many phases as part of her “non-plan” plan. “The painting changed a lot [from its beginning stage],” says Edlinger-Kunze. “The light that shines on her face is enough definition of what she’s feeling. She is leaning and probably looking at something, but
I wanted to show this one light that should tell you everything about her. This is an intimate look into this woman’s situation. In sadness or a pensive feeling, I think there’s the most possibility to get better and to recover.”Intentions in Pink, oil on linen, 8 x 8"Edlinger-Kunze hopes that viewers of the new collection “take away a different view,” she explains. “I want people to have a variety of possibility in how women show strength and beauty.” The show, as well as gallery owner Eubanks, has given the artist a lot of freedom in this new body of work, allowing for a very special experience for all to collectively share. The exhibition opens February 10. —