Cati Van Milders Presents Her Work in 'Outlook'

Sag Harbor artist Cati Van Milders will present “Outlook,” a solo show of her work, at Ashawagh Hall in Springs from Friday, September 20, to Sunday, September 22. The show opens September 20 with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m.

A multi-media artist working primarily in painting and collage, after earning her BFA in illustration in 1987 at Parsons School of design, the Belgian-born Van Milders worked as a studio assistant for Willem de Kooning and started her artistic career as a social expressionist. With sketchbook in hand, she incessantly drew people in public places, from which she later created paintings, collages and 3-dimensional pieces.

In 2003, Van Milders shifted her attention to her internal world. Through meditation and a therapeutic approach called hypno-introspection she let her impressions, tensions and emotions express themselves with and through drawings, prints, collages and clay works.

Between 2016 and 2018, the artist’s life was interrupted by injuries and surgeries. She continued to use creative expression as a means to go deeper and overcome the emotional, physical, and existential challenges her temporary physical impediment presented. Through that experience, her work has become increasingly inspired by her spiritual quest. It has shifted from a self-focused exploration to a more universal perspective — from the one to the all. Through meditations, her mandala-like paintings reflect the light and energy she feels when her mind is still and she feels spacious. Her more recent landscape paintings share that sense of space and oneness that the simple act of being in nature brings.

The Ashawagh Hall show will feature works from Van Milders’s “Inner Voices” and “Astral Explorations” series along with some landscapes of the Dolomites and her garden in Tuscany. People pieces from her earlier career will also be on view.

“My art is a heartfelt expression of my meditation and inner journey, deeply intertwined with my love for nature,” said Van Milders who is excited to share the work she has created in recent years. “Each painting attempts to capture the essence of the natural elements, to mirror the stillness and clarity that I find in deep introspection, allowing emotions and experiences to flow onto the canvas. I explore the paradox of how the body reveals truths that often elude the mind, I engage in a therapeutic process, creating pathways to inner peace and self-discovery.”

Ashawagh Hall is at 780 Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton. For more information, visit cativanmilders.com.