Catherine Edgerton (b 1982) refracts images through multimedia collage and kaleidoscopic play to interrogate notions of sanity in the US.

She has been inking, layering and stitching mixed-media records in hand-bound books since she was fourteen. She builds in layers, re-binding myths of “good” mental health in the context of white supremacy culture. The books morph into larger works, climbing out of their own spines. She carves, stitches, and shines light through pages, paint-slingingly elated to be an accomplice to their out-break onto new planes.

In expansion of this work, Edgerton invites lens-shifting through stained glass. She uses transparent objects—bug wings, film slides, brake lights—to build kaleidoscopes and TV lanterns, juxtaposing the mundane with play to create surreal visions of patterns and light.A sailor and dive-instructor by trade, her most recent work reflects images of bleaching coral and masked figures in tension between the hoax and reality of whiteness.

Having exhibited throughout the southeast, Edgerton does much of her work in and with community. She co-initiated the Durham Art Asylum, which builds creative pathways and reduces isolation among folks who struggle with mental health and addiction in Durham, North Carolina. From this work sprang the uprise of multiple community art projects and collaborations that employ kaleidoscopes, SCUBA diving, and archiving to engage abolitionist practices with a creative lens. She is currently working with local collaborators and Gallery of the Streets on an underwater performance art piece.

Edgerton accepts some commissions and sells oil paintings, as well as limited edition archival prints of pages from her books.

Her CV is HERE.