http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/home daily 1.0 2026-07-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1783458945045-2IB72XJLJPQUEA1ZHHIV/Scan_fever20260707_135435%283%29.jpg Welcome http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/about daily 0.75 2026-06-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604854505586-17U1AHTFNPKWTSGMKBCC/Untitled+design.jpg About http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/paintings daily 0.75 2021-05-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620629068737-1IVYYORX0USTF7A398VJ/184257177_4674167725935574_67103490062981533_n.jpg Paintings - One Day Together in 1959 Painting commissioned by organizer Tamar Manasseh of Mothers Against Senseless Killings. Acrylic on canvas, May 2021. This was way outside of what I normally do; I'm used to working from life or photos, but a friend and organizer asked me to recreate a scene from her mother's youth. There are no pictures of her mother's family; most of them died young, several of her brothers died by gunfire (the young man in the wheelchair was shot in the back by the cops and died of his injuries after years). But my friend figured that there was one year - 1959 - where everybody from the oldest sibling to the little baby was still alive, and she described everyone to me in detail so they'd be recognizable (though without photos their features are very generalized). Her family was living in a small apartment on the south side of Chicago at the time, so I based the room on set designs for Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, which of course features the struggles of a working class Black family on the South Side, and serendipitous, the play was also set in 1959! Technically speaking, I think I can do a lot better, but this might be one of the most meaningful paintings I've worked on and I feel so honored and humbled to be trusted with this beautiful family's history. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620629044469-BOHJ4MJ2NMHN0NP33G7U/63745.jpeg Paintings - Roots &amp; Promise Portrait of my friend Blythe Coleman-Mumford, an organizer based in Atlanta and raised in Oberlin Ohio, as a gift for her parents. Oil on canvas, December 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620629458968-T9DB666LH6CUJV8FWK7L/IMG_20201202_114634645+%281%29.jpg Paintings - Detail of Roots &amp; Promise Oil on canvas, December 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604793198796-0Q9XR08VVLGD3B7CK8TQ/Prodigal+Daughters.JPG Paintings - Prodigal Daughters Acrylic and graphite pencil on masonite board, September 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552342229436-36DII6WFSGD3ZZUGHABP/DSCN6166.jpg Paintings - moment of silence for a sleepless night oil on canvas, June 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552342248531-BDM0Q8TIE7BJXK72FY95/DSCN6164.jpg Paintings - she blessed you from the top of your head to the soles of your feet oil on masonite, small study, June 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552342449386-XCWKM7YA15ZF4DNWSAO0/DSCN6163.jpg Paintings - she blessed you from the top of your head to the soles of your feet oil on masonite, small study, June 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293506682-C6JALINCZBA1H70R6BL6/katherine_cavanaugh_010.jpg Paintings - Lot's Wife Oil on canvas, February 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293520370-E753RZG369PCSHXV2SNX/katherine_cavanaugh_017.jpg Paintings - Q: So do you believe in God? A: I don't think about it. Portrait of Arielle Haut saying the Shema. Oil on canvas, May 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293519029-UZYEQRENY8IC0F0DFP8X/katherine_cavanaugh_016.jpg Paintings - I AM A CATHOLIC/PLEASE CALL A PRIEST Portrait of John Cavanaugh. Oil on canvas, April 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293500069-P0UMPKVX3EB4DYHWZLR9/katherine_cavanaugh_012.jpg Paintings - Broken for You Portrait of Rikki Warder. Oil on canvas, March 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293508293-ORZODV75JIJA22D5DOBP/katherine_cavanaugh_013.jpg Paintings - Broken for You (detail) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165133585-62D5KB6YY3V8LPMLMRCT/DSCN4984.jpg Paintings - Subcutaneous Oil on canvas, December 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165133083-F44Q5YW52OB7G1ZQH3XI/DSCN4971.jpg Paintings - Magnetic Resonance Oil on canvas, November 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418097616232-EWO5KHX9S6XW6QQI125M/Gravity.jpg Paintings - Gravity Oil on Canvas, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165133230-ZC21A0FMDA23NLB8I28P/DSCN4979.jpg Paintings - The Mender (for Laura) Oil on canvas, December 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090791662-PYO1NSQI0A0286BG6GIR/John+Leo.jpg Paintings - John Leo Oil on Canvas, May 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090791878-KHVNPZL8KEVOFLZ8604W/Rikki%27s+Midnight+Kitchen.jpg Paintings - Rikki's Night Kitchen Oil on Canvas, March 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090790848-923P81BZM5Q41T5TV7J2/At+the+Vatican.jpg Paintings - The One Christian Thing I Saw At The Vatican Oil on Canvas, February 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090793620-RNKNQBX97AFJPLU0N9XN/Self-Portrait+with+Braid.jpg Paintings - Self-Portrait with Braid Oil on Canvas, January 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090791315-V3PPCP96O18OY3N03FJB/Monarch.jpg Paintings - Intravenous Oil on Canvas, October 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090793038-8C4X72AH6QKAURP0LJNF/securedownload.jpeg Paintings - at night she visits Oil on Canvas, November 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090793693-1ZHG3SXMVM656HD51M8A/selfportrait.jpg Paintings - Self-Portrait with Boots Oil on Canvas, April 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090794628-FAI8OPIV5HIF378ZZY3F/Troy+Davis+1.jpg Paintings - The Sacred Heart of Troy Davis Oil on Canvas, September 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418090795184-1NHCW3LAFH4XHFCYGFT0/Troy+Davis+2.JPG Paintings - Troy Davis the Green Man oil on canvas, September 2012 http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/drawings daily 0.75 2026-07-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1783458945045-2IB72XJLJPQUEA1ZHHIV/Scan_fever20260707_135435%283%29.jpg Works on Paper - Fever Dream Graphite pencil on paper, July 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1695869752184-JAR8VRNP2GHPFBS0UH4V/Welcome+Home-Pencil.jpg Works on Paper - Welcome Home pencil on paper, September 2023. Study for “your house is not your home, your life is not your own” series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1695869763068-W1DUXRCAUPLOKI6LM3BV/Last+Confession-Pencil.jpg Works on Paper - Last Confession pencil on paper, September 2023. Study for “your house is not your home, your life is not your own” series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1695869762922-1UJW5MC68FFNL6RT1XKN/Never+Leave+You-Pencil.jpg Works on Paper - Never Leave You pencil on paper, September 2023. Study for “your house is not your home, your life is not your own” series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1695869661703-R4X14P45DWCIN69REM3K/Nyia+Pregnant.jpg Works on Paper - Nyia, 24 hours before labor colored pencil and pen on manilla envelope, May 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608507110-LUQXJOYKF35VKK2MRCOV/20210307_204727.jpg Works on Paper - Dignity Portrait of a young student, age 10. Pencil on paper, March 2021 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620606910284-F8RHAP748HL0CARDL4P1/IMG_20210120_112246708_HDR+%281%29.jpg Works on Paper - Future Galactic Engineer? Portrait of a student, age 7, ballpoint pen on paper. January 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620606929520-UZDKHXGE1QLUKVTKJRBR/IMG_20210121_080750941_HDR.jpg Works on Paper - Six Years Around the Sun! Birthday card for a young community member <3 ballpoint pen, colored pencil, and acrylic paint on paper, January 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620606888622-7CFHCRTIQ6OZTZ1OLO77/IMG_20201115_220508514.jpg Works on Paper - With love from Englewood Christmas card for my family - ballpoint pen and colored pencil, December 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620606865403-OY5EBFFLODKB3FYATDZ8/IMG_20201108_121414586.jpg Works on Paper - Dedication Collage- pencil, paper, acrylic paint, matte medium. Portrait of an older friend and a very young friend, both working through the night to create and nurture, dedicated to their work in the midst of a global pandemic. November 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608546086-5L82TNRB64YUBQ9FZG5B/IMG_20200421_174537577_HDR.jpg Works on Paper - Study for "Dedication" Preliminary idea for the collage “Dedication,” April 2020, ballpoint on paper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620606877253-NKF3V0ZUUHC4Q300MCNQ/IMG_20201108_171619226.jpg Works on Paper - Pop-pop Portrait sketch of my paternal grandfather, study for a larger illustration. Pencil on paper, November 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608710342-F0GPUCDB74FD6UFNDYRK/IMG_20201021_154750729_HDR.jpg Works on Paper - Kim Portrait of Kendra Snow (“Kim”), community leader, pencil on paper, October 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608484695-QSJ1UCLDEN2PLPTMLG8Q/63754.jpeg Works on Paper - Mischief Portrait of a young community member, age 4. Pencil on paper, October 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608710234-7HYYT0KORG0VB9KWPIP0/IMG_20201015_005902326.jpg Works on Paper - Cautious Optimism Self portrait, mixed media (pencil, ballpoint pen, colored pencil, and acrylic paint on manilla envelope) October 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608670555-R2V6TXCUWIB7IF9I52HK/IMG_20200821_235030300.jpg Works on Paper - Like Mother, Like Daughter Sketch of my mother and me. Ballpoint on paper, August 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608669487-XF7QJ2AEMP6UZI3LOH5E/IMG_20200820_231649628.jpg Works on Paper - How can you resist?? Sketch of Nora with pit bull puppy, ballpoint pen, August 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620609671923-BFHRXJWQBEHV6M5YV0OH/IMG_20200820_181924549.jpg Works on Paper - Laika's Midnight Bloom Colored pencil and ballpoint pen on paper, August 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608609327-XJKL8JQWQVUOFANNRRUX/IMG_20200803_014527713.jpg Works on Paper - Madonna and Child Quita and her baby <3 pencil on paper, August 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608629758-5RUXGDMOOWAZCH1P9GXQ/IMG_20200812_105816284.jpg Works on Paper - a stor (treasures) Sketch of two precious babies in the community. Pen on paper, August 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608534900-6ORL3KSYRM3MK90O1WJ2/IMG_20200409_103253012_HDR.jpg Works on Paper - Old soul Portrait of a young neighbor, pencil on paper, July 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608493060-17BQL4M891SA8UNZTHV3/63768.jpeg Works on Paper - I miss you Mama Portrait of my mother, Sarah, who I haven’t seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Colored pencil on manilla envelope, June 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608581442-FJBVHT5PXY4V6W33ZFSS/IMG_20200617_213633753_HDR.jpg Works on Paper - Dreaming my dreams with you Pencil on paper, June 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608562091-B1HJU7RDLOSBD6TVIPFI/IMG_20200615_212022057.jpg Works on Paper - Our captors demanded us of song Colored pencil on manilla envelope, June 2020, based on a photo taken Christmas 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608554007-90JP5HDCZ9BY2VCZRJM3/IMG_20200615_021509477.jpg Works on Paper - Summer Saturday Joy Laquan, age 6, in the park. Colored pencil and ballpoint on manilla envelope, June 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608596446-4NDC3ANVPQNM9UMDUYVL/IMG_20200627_003400310.jpg Works on Paper - Long Haul Covid Self-portrait, pencil and chalk on manilla folder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608571724-QRFIF598X0ES01I0N3Q7/IMG_20200617_004302062.jpg Works on Paper - Sickbed Ballpoint pen and colored pencil on manilla folder, June 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608629366-WB6EG089FSJJI9BN81HU/IMG_20200803_014630209.jpg Works on Paper - Sufficient Unto the Day is the Evil Thereof Self-portrait, micron pen on paper, June 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608652574-2P4JGRHGZ2B2EKV3G2S8/IMG_20200818_224301351.jpg Works on Paper - Let This Darkness Be a Belltower, and You the Bell Self-portrait as essential worker, inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem. Ballpoint on paper, April 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620608475750-1YBDAKMITLL0GAN883VQ/47969.jpeg Works on Paper - First Love Nora and Isa in love. Colored pencil on manilla envelope, April 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552250638564-K3NL37DWTJM1PVZXWEJB/Growing+Up+Moonie+logo.jpg Works on Paper - Logo for Growing Up Moonie Colored pencil on illustration board, February 2019. Illustration for Hideo Higashibaba’s podcast, Growing Up Moonie. From the website: “Hideo left the cult he was born into when he was 22 years old. The Unification Church, also known as the Moonies, was founded in Korea by a man named Sun Myung Moon who proclaimed he was the Second Coming of Christ. In Growing Up Moonie Hideo asks people he grew up with what their childhoods were like and shares his struggles to make sense of his weird sheltered youth and the person he grew up to be.” You can listen to the podcast at growingupmoonie.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552345012450-WO9L0SXSHMLOW0LVDQZD/DSCN6168.jpg Works on Paper - Xiuh, Alex, and the moon colored pencil and ballpoint pen on an envelope scrap, June 2018. Later used as a study for “Promise” mural. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552374953021-TBXJYQXAHVA1L8079AO5/DSCN6165.jpg Works on Paper - quick portrait of a comrade pencil and paper, July 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552344929223-FN8QEY7RBMPWK8TRPD0L/DSCN6131.jpg Works on Paper - Study for "Alive in Englewood" mural pencil and paper, October 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552344893662-0CO8G5GCJQ5ZVXMGV0XK/DSCN6130.jpg Works on Paper - Study for "Sunday Morning" mural pencil and paper, October 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1515643894092-87C0O073PZMDXS7774JG/Go+Sister+Go%21.jpg Works on Paper - Go Sister Go! Colored pencil, ballpoint pen, and crayon on a shopping bag, September 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1515643884571-B4PPQIOYNS0V5RHJ9HEU/you+did+good.jpg Works on Paper - you did good colored pencil, crayon, and ballpoint pen on a shopping bag, January 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020626448-W75ECXWD3DFJ3QET764G/SCAN0034.JPG Works on Paper - are you drawing my picture? colored pencil on an envelope scrap, October 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020621859-6C5TY5UIWFRD96030TW1/SCAN0046.JPG Works on Paper - sketch of my mother, Sarah March 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020629362-H16ET4ME3RMTPB0LYUYF/SCAN0030.JPG Works on Paper - sketch February 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020627906-M05LBERLL3KFTAHBTV82/SCAN0032.JPG Works on Paper - sketch February 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020619988-LDEESBRDVI1493IIIG6X/SCAN0045.JPG Works on Paper - sketch March 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020624893-NNU0QJ5JP9ZDXAGY09VD/SCAN0040.JPG Works on Paper - sketch of Arielle Haut February 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020625001-7HMOVT4QHCEVHLKZX8CF/SCAN0038.JPG Works on Paper - sketch March 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020626811-CXLLOXTPQ7HKFZFLALD5/SCAN0036.JPG Works on Paper - sketch of my sister Nora and cousin Adele February 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020761828-TMC3PE25BR4901PO4YT0/SCAN0041.jpg Works on Paper - sketch of my sister Nora March 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1465020757677-OCOTOA68XMAC7246H1V1/SCAN0043.JPG Works on Paper - sketch of my sister Sophie March 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294425217-LU91JOU9THKUMLB9H0Y0/katherine_cavanaugh_015.jpg Works on Paper - Sophie and Ema Pencil on cardboard, March 2015 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294431716-7IKE8O1Z1IYIWF1L24CW/katherine_cavanaugh_009.jpg Works on Paper - Hand Study Chalk on cardboard, February 2015 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294431502-P20UOCDQOVVR5T0PH35R/katherine_cavanaugh_011.jpg Works on Paper - In the Name of Your Father Pencil on cardboard, March 2015 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294417620-VVXGL6LKK96OSA07FJH6/katherine_cavanaugh_014.jpg Works on Paper - Bing Says Her Grace Chalk on cardboard, April 2015 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293952696-ON691JQ0AUK4KZVZ71OS/katherine_cavanaugh_005.jpg Works on Paper - Study for Subcutaneous Pencil on paper, December 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165498435-KFH75UIYJ03J655ECMW2/DSCN4993.jpg Works on Paper - Neighbor Pencil on paper, November 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294024661-3COAJO9BO96ZWM7PZ851/katherine_cavanaugh_003.jpg Works on Paper - Study for Magnetic Resonance Pencil on paper, November 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165499085-LILZ3KRQ7LPJ4DTEAGUV/DSCN4998.jpg Works on Paper - Prayer Pencil and Ink on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165499512-Z7WK2Y11VESP071NYUEO/DSCN5001.jpg Works on Paper - Father and Son (sketch) Pencil on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433293836939-B7GUQ5GTBOOPBYO8KPL3/katherine_cavanaugh_001.jpg Works on Paper - Study for Gravity Pencil on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294295864-9IXX6BAV5PGQUY1536WG/katherine_cavanaugh_008.jpg Works on Paper - Father and Son Pencil on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418165499373-5RY7TKLBDW95FLZ0QIBP/DSCN5002.jpg Works on Paper - Sally and Ema Pencil on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552374908423-K707JGCR83ORHDWAR4TU/DSCN6165.jpg Works on Paper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1433294296403-HMVG4NDQH5S5VFZMUA6S/katherine_cavanaugh_007.jpg Works on Paper - The Family Pencil on paper, October 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092210587-QDOE3CGQSHZPXV2JNT42/Get+Ready+2.jpg Works on Paper - Get Ready I Pencil on Paper, March 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418093008754-D6D9KT3GMM88F35B1E0E/Get+Ready+1.jpg Works on Paper - Get Ready III Pencil on Paper, March 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092210620-HBSRQ4TWJACI5B37N711/Get+Ready+3.jpg Works on Paper - Get Ready III Pencil on Paper, March 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092213162-FBJIWTPINKWA6ZOV6CQS/Saint+Anne.jpg Works on Paper - Il Pantheón con Santa Anna e la Madonna Pencil on Paper, February 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092213334-7S9GAFVGPTLFWSBWPXAN/Screen+Shot+2014-01-27+at+3.13.10+PM.png Works on Paper - Growing in Westwood Cemetery Etching, May 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092213067-DKIOVRV0OWP8ERFE24QC/IMG_0391.JPG Works on Paper - The New Road Monoprint, March 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092212566-XNC3F57CZPIBJC6GPP6R/IMG_0386.JPG Works on Paper - Mama Feet Monoprint, February 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092214306-R9Y1O6VOZXDQQVH23LFO/Tree+of+Life+Etching.JPG Works on Paper - Crabapple Etching, February 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092210262-0HQ7TCCVG5BPU720DGDJ/4.Fiona.jpg Works on Paper - Fiona Etching, January 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092209682-7MVH2MHTVVF9JC3ACHZY/5.Selfportraitetching.jpg Works on Paper - Self-Portrait Etching, January 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092213215-11BCMXZ38DL1J7G5AFKQ/Screen+Shot+2014-01-22+at+6.20.15+PM.png Works on Paper - Nude Study Silverpoint, October 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418092213368-R56BZC0NIAZXOOJBSOPO/Screen+Shot+2014-01-27+at+5.38.19+PM.png Works on Paper - Arielle Silverpoint, October 2012 http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/murals daily 0.75 2019-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604792560082-4KJMYDBHE3I9M2NOBTLV/IMG_20201013_100020276_HDR.jpg Murals - You were born for such a time as this. Mural for Mothers Against Senseless Killings’ “Peace Academy,” acrylic on wood panel, October 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604792578608-RX5A0UDA6VLKCIRCFG1J/IMG_20201013_100040999_HDR.jpg Murals - We all light the way Mural for Mothers Against Senseless Killings’ “Peace Academy,” acrylic on wood panel, October 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604792581581-0KZYEIWVF53MYGH8KP2X/IMG_20201013_100055627_HDR.jpg Murals - We're on our way. Mural for Mothers Against Senseless Killings’ “Peace Academy,” acrylic on wood panel, October 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1604792585115-1RU138J3VQWDMGLGR4P3/IMG_20201013_100716322.jpg Murals - Mural for Mothers Against Senseless Killings’ “Peace Academy" in situ acrylic on wood panel, October 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310232978-K0QLPAZANIVFDLLOIRQR/UChurch-Sanctuary.jpg Murals - Lord Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310129831-IKL32UOGE67AKEDTTHTY/UChurch-To+Confront+the+Powers+of+Evil.jpg Murals - To Confront the Powers of Evil October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310138755-RUEKX1L88YQOF3UYJCFO/UChurch-Vital+as+the+Day%27s+Work.jpg Murals - As Vital as the Day's Work October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310109877-ODWMRMD7CL3H2HDQIU9D/UChurch-Baptism.jpg Murals - Baptism October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310570302-2RR3AZ60O95HEDX9S9BO/UChurch-Laying+On+of+Hands.jpg Murals - Laying On of Hands October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1591310116246-ETYAR37US6Z0OTZH30KL/UChurch-Communion.jpg Murals - Communion October 2019 - one of several panels in commemoration of the University Church of Chicago’s 125th congregational anniversary. The church has a long history of dedicating its ministry to justice and the pursuit of liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552249549084-KIG6LNEU5V88T79U50H6/DSCN6158.jpg Murals - Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Mural at the Sanctuary Cafe, Hyde Park, Chicago, November 2018 These glimpses of quiet moments in the revolutionary proletarian struggle -- moments of reflection, of prayer, and of vulnerability -- are tied together, in my mind, by the clarity that comes from the realization that politics affect and permeate every second of our lives, even and especially in privacy. My hope is that you, the viewer, can feel a sense of identification and intimacy with the people in these scenes; and if your class interests differ too greatly, that you feel the discomfort of that contradiction. I know I have a weakness for poetic ambiguity so I want to make sure to write this plainly: though mellowly depicted, these scenes deal (in no particular order) with national oppression, capitalist state violence, the aftermath of decolonization, poverty, self-defense, and working-class solidarity. They also deal with hope: with the revolutionary optimism that makes it possible to carry on, even in times of violation or despair. When I start to despair, I think about how Christ told us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, because they will be satisfied; in these murals, I want to bring that thought to the comrades depicted here, who are such inspirations to, and/or beloved by, me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552249549972-2T78AS21S1ZFXFUX5YQB/20190301-DSC08505.jpg Murals - Promise Mural at the Sanctuary Cafe, November 2018 The expressions of these comrades, illuminated by a globe turned to display parts of the Global South, are of curiosity and wonder- it's a moment of hope and conspiracy, the revolutionary optimism of imagining what this world could be. There's no overtly Christian symbolism in this image; the spirituality of the scene comes more from the illumination and the universality, or even solidarity, evoked by the image of our earth. Meanwhile, in the background, you can see that these people are also under threat; they have an eviction notice, the type issued by the City of Chicago, attached to the fridge behind them in the darkened kitchen. I included a rifle, barely visible in the shadows, kept above the door, to symbolize militancy and the right of oppressed peoples to self-defense. This world belongs to workers and the oppressed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552249523808-BWLV9V9KOI62172R2VQH/20190301-DSC08503.jpg Murals - Alive in Englewood Mural at the Sanctuary Cafe, November 2018 I remember seeing red and blue cop lights from outside the window, filling up the night air on my block, flash over this comrade as they slept. They seemed so vulnerable to me. In the mural, the cop cars outside the window- so many of them, coming out of the darkness- embody a constant threat, specifically to Black people in this city. The figure, sleeping and shirtless, embodies vulnerability and humanity. I've always thought of sleep as symbolic of dreams or imagination, though I'm not sure if that's a common association. I included the book, The State and Revolution, to give some context for who this person is and what they do when they're not sleeping. A small cross hangs on the wall above the bed, echoing the position and symbolism of the steeple in the mural to the left, while adding the symbology of martyrdom and liturgical references to Christ as a nationally oppressed person persecuted by law enforcement. The figure and the bed are rendered softly in a warm shade of blue, while the cop cars outside use harsher, flatter shades, jarring the peace of the rest of the image. Life goes on under the reality of oppression. Revolutionary proletarian struggle fills the dreams of the sleeper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1552249528810-06E3OABTYPKW64CVO5AQ/20190301-DSC08498.jpg Murals - Sunday Morning Mural at the Sanctuary Cafe, November 2018 The woman standing in the street is Bernadette Devlin McAlisky, a 71-year-old Northern Irish revolutionary, who came to politics as a devout Catholic teenager living under English occupation in the 60s. She became a socialist, represented her people in the enemy parliament at the age of 21, organized working class fighters at the Battle of the Bogside, survived being imprisoned and shot 14 times by terrorists in front of her children, and through it all has remained fiercely principled, militantly engaged, dedicated to the eradication of capitalism and the liberation of the poor, and therefore often on the outs with establishment politics. After a visit to the united states as a young woman, she remarked, "'My people’—the people who knew about oppression, discrimination, prejudice, poverty and the frustration and despair that they produce– were not Irish Americans. They were Black, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos. And those who were supposed to be ‘my people’, the Irish Americans who knew about English misrule and the Famine and supported the civil rights movement at home, and knew that Partition and England were the cause of the problem, looked and sounded to me like Orangemen. They said exactly the same things about Black people that the loyalists said about us at home. In New York I was given the key to the city by the mayor, an honor not to be sneezed at. I gave it to the Black Panthers." I don't know McAlisky personally, but she is a monumental figure to me, so I made her monumental here. The visual reference is taken from a recent photo of McAlisky standing on a street in Derry by Brenda Fitzsimons for the Irish Times. The photo stood out to me because there aren't many widely publicized photos of McAlisky as an older woman, although she's still so politically active. I wanted to depict her in way that would honor elder woman comrades. The church steeple looming overhead can be read as ominous and haunting, or as a kind of guiding light- because even as religious differences and the use of religion in colonization has colored conflicts over colonial oppression, faith itself has often strengthened and inspired proletarian revolutionaries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094794349-RRVUGGN6MBOCPC09UAQV/The+Angel+You+Need.jpg Murals - The Angel You Need (not the one you prayed for) Oil-based markers on butcher paper, wheatpasted to a stone floodwall on the Tiber River between Lungotevere Aventino and Lungotevere Testaccio, Rome, Italy. May 2014. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094793556-MI1HACPN1WX5T0Z08EI8/The+Angel+You+Need-Detail.jpg Murals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094791812-EU44KBBQRTE9VUZGKMZI/DSCN4272.jpg Murals in situ with local fishermen Marco and Gian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094791011-ECK2NEDZJDYMIFI6VV1U/DSCN4207.jpg Murals - Prega per le Donne I & II Oil-based markers on butcher paper, wheatpasted to a concrete wall in a tunnel off of Piazza Cenci, Rome, Italy. April 2014. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094792721-WSSMB3E7N2W450BTC59R/Harbingers+2.jpg Murals - Prega Per le Donne III https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094791196-IWA87QAE5J1BR0Q2CV7P/DSCN4217.jpg Murals in situ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1418094792171-P8PEZCUF1OE92WU93YK2/Harbingers+1.jpg Murals in situ http://katherine-cavanaugh.squarespace.com/fabric daily 0.75 2021-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526910904-DC5AWOLYI7KZT4CTJQKH/20210426_081538.jpg Fabric - Galactic Elephant! Velvet with satin lining, printed with images of the Orion nebula from the Hubble telescope. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526816524-1OA8CV68DSIDNG93FEPG/IMG_20201231_125342134.jpg Fabric - Sunshine Bear Gold velvet teddy bear with satin paws and silk bowtie printed with night sky images. Magnets in paws and globe (polar fleece with appliquéd and embroidered continents) allow bear to hold the globe or any other magnetic object. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526810217-SXBCIBEWUEGP9X7DKTU1/IMG_20201231_125217663.jpg Fabric - Sunshine bear with galaxy bow Sunshine bear with silk bow visible https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526813940-QHRR1FRWXOIIS150G4BG/IMG_20210112_083718883.jpg Fabric - Wildflower Bear Coral and gold velvet with gold and rust silk paws and ear lining; paws are appliquéd and embroidered with wildflowers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526818923-M7324IGUG4MGHT8E25UR/IMG_20210112_083754907.jpg Fabric - Wildflower Bear detail Detail of wildflower work on back paws https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526818764-LL9TBP91AICM3SNFZC54/IMG_20210112_113926449_HDR.jpg Fabric - Wildflower Bear with Waterways Globe Magnets in paws and globe (polar fleece with appliquéd and embroidered continents) allow bear to hold the globe or any other magnetic object. This globe focuses on major rivers and ocean currents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526796922-HDSHD2EQF07ZT9XKCOY6/20210221_135347.jpg Fabric - Velvet Dragon Gold velvet dragon with coral and scarlet velvet spikes and gold satin lining for horns and wings; magnets inserted in the mouth, wings, and feet allow the dragon to hold objects in its mouth, fold its wings, and grasp or hold onto any metal object. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526807129-8U70QNOF86KRWVABFT9M/20210415_022749.jpg Fabric - Monogrammed Pillowcase Silk satin pillowcase, hand-sewn and monogrammed for a dear friend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547c0503e4b0ffc1351f92ee/1620526833901-OH0JOK1A2B20A0B2SUJX/Screen+Shot+2021-05-08+at+9.05.16+PM.png Fabric - Embroidered artist's apron Monogrammed painting apron for my young student (photo taken before apron’s first use!)