Erector Square: Caitlin Reuter

City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 772-2709
Erector Square: Caitlin Reuter
Oct. 15, 2006.

Caitlin Reuter's studio was my first stop on Sunday. I had reviewed Reuter's work in the ALL Gallery Texture show back in September. Reuter builds life-size plaster figures on wire frames. There were nine of her human figures and one dog on display in her studio as well as four maquettes.

The reclining figures, she told me, are built around an aluminum wire armature. The standing figures, needing more support, have welded rebar armatures. There were photos on the wall showing the process. After constructing the armatures, Reuter mixes plaster with pigment and builds it up in layers. On the walls Reuter had also hung several large four-color linoleum cut reduction prints. The imagery echoed her sculptures.

"I use the same type of layering technique. I print one color on top of the other and let the colors in the background come through," said Reuter. She prints most by hand. "I like the way I see the colors come through when I rub it by hand."

I asked how she was drawn to this work.

"I originally was working in clay and really was bored staring at grayness all the time. I wanted to work with color," Reuter said. So much so that she said she probably starts working with the pigment earlier in the process than she should -in terms of cost- but "I can't wait to get into color and start building it through."

I noticed that the floor was stained and mottled by plaster and that it complemented the figures. Reuter laughed.

"It's not intentional," she said. "It tried my best to clean it but it's a messy process."