God’s Underpaintings
by Tasha Cathey
My current work is a group of monochromatic and dichromatic watercolor paintings made from red ochre earth pigment and indigo lake pigment. I’ve ruminated for a few years on how human identity contrasts with the created world. How does Imago Deo work out in this world practically? In what ways are we unique compared with the rest of the created order? What are the implications for us now, and how does that mold and form our perspective of ourselves going into the future?
Sediment and a River, 2022, handcrafted watercolor using foraged red ochre, 4 × 4 in.
The monochromatic red ochre paintings were inspired by underpaintings, which traditionally lay the groundwork underneath oil paintings for subsequent composition and paint applications. Even the hue of the underpainting is important because of how pigment reacts with light, and this can significantly affect how colors applied will be perceived. Orange and red hues help whites to pop and give other hues proper representation in contrast to just being applied on a blank white surface. The underpainting symbolizes our original design: the Image of God present in us. The desert buttes and rock structures lean into this theme. The backbone to life and all geographic features is our literal earth rockbed.
Sturzstrom on a Quiet Ridge, 2023, handcrafted watercolor using foraged red ochre, 5 × 5 in.
These paintings are meant to feel unfinished. They allude to more work being done. More has been planned for us. I want to give proper reverence here for God's active agency in our world as a current Presence. Our existence is marked by a yearning for what’s to come and a desire to see goodness restored.
Ochre Ridge on Indigo, 2023, handcrafted watercolor using indigo lake pigment and foraged red ochre, 4 × 4 in.
The dichromatic paintings focus on our human existence reflected against a created order. Indigo lake pigment, derived from indigo leaves, is incredibly lightfast but will eventually succumb to decay due to its biological makeup. The red ochre is an earth pigment, impervious to cellular breakdown due to its abiotic qualities. Our world is subject to change, while our human soul is an eternal presence lasting far beyond our body.
The red ochre linear application is also a nod to blood, recalling the importance of the blood spilled by Christ, and is a symbol of our rich and purposeful existence as humans. Red ochre, an unchanging sediment pigment set against a once-living plant pigment, can also be interpreted as God's permanence against the created world, as well as God’s desire to be present alongside it, to be present alongside us.
Tasha Cathey lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband and two children. Her work is inspired heavily from her years spent living in Arizona and California at a young age and are either composed purely from memory or directly using a reference from her photography. Every painting is created using handmade watercolor made in her home studio using carefully sourced earth pigments and indigo.
