Cate Dayan

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Artist Statement from Signs of Home

Signs – both metaphoric and literal – remind us of where we are from and guide us to where we are heading. They each mark a moment of our journey, a memory of a place in time. They hold an era, a stage, a phase, a sentiment, a piece of a heart, as well an actual location and direction. Signs of Home celebrates the landmarks along life’s journey and the many signs that evoke a feeling of home.

Artist Statement from You Only Live Once, Yolo

During the darkest times of the pandemic, while sequestered in her house, local artist Cate Dayan kept her traveling spirit contented by bringing the world into her home by way of her paintings. During isolation, Dayan filled her walls with bright colors of beloved places (both local and distant) to quench her adventurous heart. You Only Live Once, Yolo is a love note to her beloved community- a reminder to live life to the fullest whenever and wherever possible, and to consider our big colorful world, while taking direct action “painting” local change in our own home-community.

In 2020, Cate Dayan, along with teachers around the world, turned her multi-sensorial “living” classroom into two-dimensional digital environments- websites and zoom meetings. Interactions with her students and the world around her took on a new, flat reality, leaving distant memories of energetic children laughing unrestricted by slow internet connections to haunt her. To counter the surrealness of these virtual schooldays, Dayan mixed paint, played with texture, and engaged with an alternate form of two-dimensional reality. By playing with shadows, reflections, and light, Dayan depicted the greater three-dimensional world she longed for, giving new life and cheer to the dark times, the disconnected times, the “poor-connection” times.
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It is my intention to build connection and community through teaching and the arts. It is a profound honor to share this collection of work, created mostly in isolation, with my beloved community in person. It is especially fitting to come together in three-dimensional reality, with treats for all of our senses, to celebrate community and art here at Four Palms Gallery; and to simultaneously support the birthplace of many local artists, including myself, The Davis Arts Center, because as they say… “art makes life more meaningful, it builds community, it builds resilience, and it keeps us going in difficult and joyful times.”