Two years ago while vacationing at the family farm, a friend noticed the dowsing rods lying on the porch and asked what they were. I explained that they were used to find water underground.The dowsing process involves holding two metal rods in each hand and as you walk over the land the rods will move involuntarily if there is water below. I learned this technique from my father, who was taught by his father. I was intrigued to see if I could turn this process into a drawing or some sort of image.
Like a seismograph, I attached a string to one dowsing rod and then a pen to the end of the string. Moving across the land I let the pen flow over the sheet of paper recording the movements of the dowsing rod—pulling the drawings from the ground. Over the next six months, I made approximately fifteen thousand drawings with a dowsing rod.
Back in my studio with stacks of these dowsed drawings, I was intrigued on where I could take them.The involuntary line the dowsing rod had made was foreign to the twenty years of drawings I had previously produced. One day in the studio I started reworking the dowsed drawings—strengthening some lines, leaving others letting my eye find its way in.
These drawings begged for large scale. I did not want to simply transfer these to a large canvas and paint them in, losing the spontaneity. A fellow artist suggested that I could simply enlarge them by making prints. This process then allowed me to work with the background without losing the quality of the original drawing.
These prints have now found a home between my painting and drawing practice, acting as a bridge between what had been two separate practices.
Education:
1989 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, USA Summer Residency Program
1989 Alberta College of Art, Calgary, AB, Canada, Diploma of Painting (with Distinction)
1988 Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, New York, NY, USA New York Loft Program
1986 Red Deer College, Red Deer, AB, Canada Summer Painting Residency Program
Selected Exhibitions
2011 Pull, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010 Fresh Paint, Alberta Foundation for the Arts traveling exhibition program
2011 Curated by Leslie Pinter
2010 Toronto International Art Fair, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery.
2010 Art House Coop. Sketchbook Project. Traveling exhibition. Brooklyn NY
2009 Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery Vancouver, BC
2008 Summer Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
2007 Group Show, Halde Gallerie, Wiiden Switzerland.
2007 The Dowsing Rod Series, Skew Gallery Calgary AB.
2007 Blindspot, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Advent, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2006 Curtis Cutshaw New Work, Halde Galerie, Widen Switzerland
2005 Sprung: Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2005 Breathing Light, Skew Gallery, Calgary, AB
2004 Wet Paint, Group Show, Skew Gallery, Calgary, AB
2004 A Hundred Cares, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2001 Royer Group, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2001 Abstraction, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
2000 Fresh, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1998 Miramar, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1997 Four Independents, Deacon Ulrich Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1995 CUTSHAW, HALLIDAY, KOTTMANN, Sebastian Yoon Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1992 Miramar, New Paintings by Curtis Cutshaw, 371 Gallery, Alberta College of Art & Design, Calgary, AB
1989 Twenty Painters, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, USA
1989 Graduating Students Exhibition, Alberta College of Art, Main Gallery, Calgary, AB
1989 The First Annual Awards Reception Show, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
1989 Fusion, Mount Royal College, Calgary, AB
1989 Nineteen in 89-ACA Painting Graduates, Mixed Media Gallery, Calgary, AB
1989 Works on Paper, Emily Carr College of Art & Design, Vancouver, BC
1988 Group Show, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
1988 Four Painters: Curtis Cutshaw, Barbra Leidl, Yvonne Markotic, and Brenda Whiteman DL Gallery, Calgary, AB
1988 Pentimental, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
1987 Twenty Paintings by Curtis Cutshaw, Alberta College of Art, Calgary AB
Awards
1990 The Alberta Award
1989 Laura Mae Stillings Award
1989 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture
1988 Benniy & Smith Canada LTD. Award
1988 Illingworth Kerr Scholarship, New York Loft Program
1987 Calgary Sketch Club Award
Art Fairs
2010 Toronto International Art Fair
2007 Photo Miami, Miami Basel. Miami, Florida
2006 Photo Miami, Miami Basel, Miami, Florida Scope New York, New York, NY
Collections
Alberta Foundation For The Arts
Mount Royal College
Shell Canada Limited
Various Private Collections
Interviews
2007 Fast Forward, Scott Rogers, Thursday, May 24, 2007
2007 The Calgary Herald, Nancy Tousley, Sunday, May 20 2007
2005 Beautiful Homes Magazine Canadian, December 2005 Page 55.
2005 Nice Homes Magazine, May 2005 Page 32.
2005 Gallerieswest Magazine, Summer 2005 Page 30.
2005 Shaw Cable, Calgary, AB.
2004 CBC News, Vancouver, BC.
2000 The Calgary Herald, September 4, 2000. "The Next Wave: Calgary's Rising Young Artists" By: Lin Connery. Arts Section, Page AG1, AG2.
1988 The Calgary Herald, April 22, 1989. "Travel Broadens Students' Vistas"
By: Kate Zimmerman, Section D, Page 7
Professional Development
2001 Saskatchewan Invitational Artist's Workshop University of Saskatchewan, Kenderdine Campus, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
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| "Butterfly" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 23" x 35" CDN 2,050 Unframed |
"Go" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 44" x 60" CDN 6,600 Unframed |
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| "Shoreline" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 38" x 46.2" CDN 4,400 Unframed |
"Wick" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 23.4" x 44" CDN 2,650 Unframed |
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| "Tower" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 23.9" x 44" CDN 2,650 Unframed |
"Mist" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 20" x 28" CDN 1,650 Unframed |
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| "Watermark" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 38" x 52.8" CDN 5,050 Unframed |
"Close Call" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 38" x 41.5" CDN 3,950 Unframed |
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| "Barb" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 42" x 56" CDN 5,900 Unframed |
"Cathedral" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 20" x 28" CDN 1,650 Unframed |
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| "Construct" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 48" x 66" CDN 7,950 Unframed |
"Float" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 27" x 40" CDN 2,700 Unframed |
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| "Hallaw" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 27" x 35" CDN 2,400 Unframed |
"Laver" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 46" x 64" CDN 7,400 Unframed |
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| "Pull" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 40" x 54" CDN 5,400 Unframed |
"Section" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 42" x 56" CDN 5,900 Unframed |
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| "The Fourth of February" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 36" x 48" CDN 4,350 Unframed |
"Underdown" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 20" x 28" CDN 1,650 Unframed |
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| "Staple Version 2" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 12 26" x 40" CDN 2,600 Unframed |
"Full Version" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 12 24" x 41" CDN 2,500 Unframed |
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| "Bar Web" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 9 42" x 55" CDN 5,775 Unframed |
"State Version", Ed of 9 Fine Art Digital Print 33.5" x 47.75" CDN 4,000 Unframed |
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| "Haloday" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 12 27" x 40" CDN 2,700 Unframed |
"Save Version" Fine Art Digital Print, Ed of 12 27" x 42" CDN 2,900 Unframed |
| © Herringer Kiss Gallery |
