Cathy Mendola Exhibit
Eye See You
In May, our Vault Gallery will feature fiber art by Cathy Spivey Mendola.
Cathy's fascination with the face, specifically the eyes, has been a focus of her beaded and embroidered art for some time. They say that faces are a mirror of the mind and that eyes are a window to the soul, which has been her inspiration to create these pieces.
Focusing on a single eye in some of these pieces allows Cathy to reach into the soul of each animal or person and infuse life in them with simple thread sketches. Cathy's face series allows her to create a beaded & stitched narrative for each of these faces in hopes that the viewer can see themselves or aspects of their personalities in these pieces.
"I am constantly inspired by nature and the world around me. Working in a series and having a theme or subject matter to explore challenges me to keep the individual pieces unique yet create a cohesive collection. My creative process is a bit unorthodox as I rarely plan things out in advance. Instead, I allow my intuition to take control and let the artwork guide me where it wants to go. When people view my artwork I hope that it sparks a memory, an emotion or at the very least a smile."
Show Dates + Artist Info
Eye See You will be on display May 5-27 in our Vault Gallery. There will be an opening reception on Friday, May 5 from 6pm to 8pm, where visitors can meet Cathy and view her work. The opening reception is during First Friday in downtown Manteo and is free and open to everyone.
Cathy Spivey Mendola is a native of southeastern Virginia and was fortunate to spend many weeks on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a child which prompted a lifelong love of the OBX. Her adult life has been spent living in numerous states, but now she is proud to call North Carolina her home. After a short career in nursing, she dedicated her time to raising her daughter. Being a stay-at-home mom provided the opportunity to reignite her love of the creative process. After dabbling in many different art forms she found her passion for jewelry making and fiber art. Her current focus is designing bead embroidered jewelry as well as bead embellished and hand embroidered fiber art.
Creativity for me is not just a pastime but a way of life. I am happiest when my hands are busy and I am focused on the process of creating.