Catherine Lecce-Chong

Artworks

 

White Blindness: Isolation Icons series. 2020-2021. Mixed media on canvas. 

Series introduction audio description 

 

 Mother and child with white halos over cobalt blue underpainting are obscured by white acrylic glaze   Monk figure with halo and necklace of gold sequined lace medallions sits cross-legged holding prayer book

First image: Cobalt Blue Virgin, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of Laura Conte.

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Second image: Quinacridone Gold Guru, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

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Other works in the exhibition

Dioxazine Purple King, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of Curtis Chong.

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Micaceous Iron Oxide WP Mankiller, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

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Green Gold Good Shepherd, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

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Transparent Brown Iron Oxide Homeless with Dog and Saint Rose, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

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Quinacridone Crimson Chavez y Huerta, 2020-2021. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

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Bone Black and Lyla’s White: Two Ladies with Lamps, 2020-2021.. From the White Blindness Series: The Isolation Icons. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

Audio description  

Catherine Lecce-Chong’s artistic method has evolved and adapted to fit her vision impairment. White Blindness refers to the pain and vision loss she experiences when encountering bright light. Her subjects are the great teachers and leaders of the past, with whom she found refuge and comfort during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. Each piece begins with an underpainting of pure, saturated color, which then leads the artist to the choice of iconic image and the title of each work. Lecce-Chong often works wearing dark glasses or in low light and uses stencils, tape, and string to make simple shapes that are outlined in relief and filled with thick paint. 

As she works, her fingers or brushes help her feel the boundaries of the image and the edges of the canvas. Each icon is completed with textured paint and collage elements to add more depth to the tactile experience. Multiple layers of transparent white glaze are then added to obscure the image even further. The only pure color left at the end of her process are the two-inch border to the canvas and tiny details peeping through the glaze. The perspective is flat, echoing religious icons.

About the Artist

 Catherine Lecce-Chong in her studio hugging guide dog

 Catherine Lecce-Chong in her studio. 

Image description: A color photograph of the artist Catherine Lecce-Chong in her art studio. She is crouched down, smiling at the camera, and hugging her black guide dog. She is wearing a white apron and dark glasses, and is smiling at the camera. Behind her, paintings from her White Blindness: Isolation Icons series are arranged on the ground, on easels, and against the wall. 

 

“In the blink of an eye, in 2018, my life and art changed when I lost much of my vision. Decades of classical western painting and traditional Asian painting and calligraphy would fade away … but not the passion or the essential drive to create. I became interested in my own and another person’s perceptions with blindness.” —Catherine Lecce-Chong

Catherine Lecce-Chong lives in Santa Rosa, California, and has an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She studied traditional art and calligraphy in Japan and took traditional Chinese art and calligraphy instruction in San Francisco. 

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