Cathryn Jenkins - biography

Cathryn Jenkins grew up in Revelstoke, B.C., a small town nestled between the Selkirk and Monashee mountain ranges, near the Alberta border. As a young girl and the daughter of noted sculptor, Fran Jenkins, she divided much of her time between her mother's studio and the wilds of nearby Glacier National Park. She spent many hours at her mother's side learning about the qualities of different stones, while gaining an understanding of line and form as well as an appreciation for the relationship between artist and medium.

At 14-years-old, Jenkins picked up a hammer and chisel for the first time, sparking a life-long passion for sculpture and fine art. At 19 she sold her first piece, and today — inspired by such artists as Emily Carr; American sculptors Rosetta and Sandy Scott; and of course her mother — Jenkins' stylized representational forms have become an increasingly strong presence in the art world.

Her most recent work — which includes the biggest serpentine grizzlies ever seen — is quickly gaining recognition among both private and corporate collectors.

Known for the fluidity and presence of her pieces, Jenkins recently received awards at both the American Women Artists (AWA) 2000, 2002 and 2004 competitions in Santa Fe, N.M., as well as First Place: Three Dimensional at the 19th annual Lewis-Clark Center for Arts and History competition in Lewiston, Idaho for sculptures from her wildlife series.

With each of her pieces, she has the feeling that the animal or subject-complete with its own personality or particular qualities — is already present in the stone, and as she works, it somehow assists her in releasing it. In Jenkins' mind, each carving is the first; each experience and relationship with the individual subject is brand-new and therefore something of which she can never grow tired. She continues to work on her "book of bears," comparing the creation of each sculpture to writing a single page in a great novel-one that is only just getting started.

The stone selected for Cathryn’s works is hand quarried in British Columbia.  These marbles and serpentines have individual qualities unveiled by hammer and chisel, diamond blades, rasps, files, and the artist’s eye to reveal flowing agility, powerful line, and lustrous natural surface. 

The work is to be touched.  Its tactile appeal becomes a part of the living area for which it is created.  Unlike painting, that often acts as a window to take you out of a room, Cathryn’s sculpture becomes an integral part of its space – a familiar presence to which an understanding and relationship soon develops.

The stone: 
A deposit of very unusual stone in central British Columbia, Canada provides an excellent medium for sculpting.
Millions of years ago, deep in the earth, a mass of peridotite metamorphosed into black and blue-grey serpentine with a very high content of iron-carbonate.  Hot fluids invaded the iron-carbonate serpentine, partially altering it to a golden brown, iron rich marble (anchorite with chorite and talc as the main accessory minerals).  Some of the serpentine was left unchanged.  All this results in a stone of black, blue-grey or golden brown with splashes of green, sometimes all in the same piece.     

Corporate Collections:  
B.C. Gas, Vancouver, B.C.
British Columbia Trade and Development Corporation, Vancouver, B.C.
Epic Data International Inc., Vancouver, B.C.
KF Evans Ltd., Vancouver, B.C.
Midland Walwyn, White Rock, B.C.
Norsat International Inc., Vancouver, B.C.
 Sea Trade Shipping, Vancouver, B.C.
 Polymer Technologies Inc., ON
Stresscrete, ON

Private Collections: 
Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, and the United States

Cathryn Jenkins' stylized work reflects the natural world in powerful figures of grizzly bears, cougars, river otters, eagles, hawks, owls and loons.

Cathryn and her mother quarry all of their own stone from a soapstone and serpentine from a deposit of rare purity. She still spends her summers prospecting and exploring in the interior of Canada and winters in her studio recreating the world she loves. Her sculptures reflect a deep and abiding love of the wilderness. Even as a child, she says, she was fascinated by the shapes and colors of rocks. "I love stone and I love animals," she says. "If you put the two together and work hard enough, something is bound to come from it". What comes is truly wonderful indeed, her works exhibit an instinctive ability to capture the strength and fluidity of movement that is the very essence of the animal's being. "My work is not detailed," she says. "I am not interested in detail unless it has something to express about the animals. I often take out detail after using it to get the proportions right. You have to be aware of what the stone is saying and know how to respond to it." She tries to match the rhythm of the stone with the movement of the subject to create natural proportion and balance in each piece. Sometime, however, the subject takes control and aggressively develops its own personality which stretches both me and the stone to our limits.