Catherine Rive CV
My work centres on the leaf, as an island and network simultaneously: singular in form, yet inseparable from branch, trunk, forest, and climate.
In its veins I see rivers; in its branching, lungs and neural pathways; in its surface, the lines of my own palm. The same patterns move through tree, landscape, and body. The leaf becomes a meeting point between inner and outer worlds.
I am drawn to the wandering paths, formed through movement and survival. These faint passages create map-like structures, a living archive recording light, climate, insect passage, and time.
Leaves regulate climate while alive; in falling, they continue to participate in cycles of insulation, carbon storage, and renewal. Nothing is wasted.
I hope to contribute to the Arborealist’s a practice that considers the tree as a climate mechanism, archive and interconnected system. My paintings seek to make visible the quiet labour of leaves: their cooling, their recording, their shedding, their return.
Through my paintings, I make visible the quiet intelligence of trees expressed through pattern, exchange, and renewal. The leaf teaches that what we call individual is always part of a larger field.
The group’s vision resonates with my painting practice, and I would welcome the opportunity to be part of this diverse creative community.
catherinerive.co.uk
Education
1995 MA European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art
1989 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Sunderland Polytechnic
Solo Exhibitions
2024 The Nature of Things, Fazenda, London UK
2014 Mapping, 639 Gallery, London, UK
1999 The Centre of Attention, London, UK
1998 Maps and Other Non-Diagrams The Poetry Place, London, UK
1991 The Long Gallery, Newcastle University, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 Open, The Old Lock Up Gallery Cromford UK
2025 Solstice, The Old Lock Up Gallery Cromford UK
Sanctuary, The Old Lock Up Gallery Cromford UK
Home, Arbeit Studios, London, UK
2024 Hiraeth, Old Lock Up Gallery, Matlock, UK
Conversations In the Gap Mother and Daughter, Little Buildings, Newcastle, UK
2023 Natures Endurance, The Artworks, Halifax UK
2019 Contemporary Landscape, 508 Gallery, London, UK
2012 Things Beginning with M, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK
And The Arcola Theatre, London UK
2004 The Centre of Attention, London, UK
2001 The London Chamber of Commerce & Industry, London, UK
All on the Wharf, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK
Permanent Collection, The Centre of Attention, London, UK
The Centre of Attention Painting Prize, London, UK
The London Chamber of Commerce & Industry, London, UK
The Centre of Attention Magazine, London, UK
1996 Histories, Rosa Centro Cultural, Barcelona, Spain
1995 Language & Location, Winchester School of Art, Barcelona, Spain.
Delfina Art Gallery, London, UK
New City Artists, Washington Arts Centre, Tyne & Wear, UK
Cupola Gallery, Sheffield, UK
1994 Northern Scene, Tullie House, Carlisle, UK
Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, ‘Sunderland, UK
The Long Gallery, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
1992 Small Works, Newcastle Polytechnic, Newcastle, UK
1991 Made in Sunderland, Durham Museum & Art Gallery, UK
Awards
1994 Northern Arts Travel Award,
1990 Northern Arts Award