WELCOME ABOARD:

///---> I am an artist who creates soft sculptures, internet wonderlands, and tells tall tales. Welcome to my world. <---\\\

This website is a labyrinth, in no certain order and living (!!). It is best viewed on a desktop. Keep coming back.

ARTIST STATEMENT ON MY FIBER ART PRACTICE:

Taught to sew before I could write, my work opens a discourse on material knowledge, while probing the difference between rags and riches. Using an industrial sewing machine, I transform found materials, such as worn out mattresses and scraps of commercial faux fur into jumbo-sized soft sculptures that pop off the wall. Fur, often a symbol of opulence and status is recontextualized into buoyant spirit-objects reflecting an aesthetic fervor for Las Vegas’ grit & glamour and moth wing patterns 🦋 while showcasing a remarkably underrated womancraft: stitch-work. Eternally fascinated, my work has themes of play, myth-making, and pageantry; it has been said to conjure magic when touched.

P.S. Oh, I also adore the internet........*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ *:･ﾟ✧ ME IN MY STUDIO! In my favorite place and new world: Chicago Art Department. 2024.

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$ABOVE$ I used to travel with a traditional three-ring circus. We lived and toured via a mile and a half long vintage post office train. This is a video I took sailing through the Mojave Desert ; my head hung out the windows of our swiftly sailing crazy train. 🕊️ 🌬️ 💨🕊️ 🌬️ 💨

PETTING ZOO. Viewers petting/brushing my artworks (a.k.a. furworks) at The Other Art Fair, 2024.

WHIRLWIIND, 2024.
FOUND MATERIALS: FAUX FUR, PLANT HOLDER, MATTRESS, VINYL.

BABY PINKIE, 2023.
Found Materials: Remnants of Faux Fur, Old Mattress, Dead Woman’s Vinyl.

A miniature version of Pinkie, The Furluffalo. She lives in @SugarHighTide’s Tattoo Studio now.

PETTING ZOO. Relevant words from a participant’s tattoo, “don’t touch the art.” For this showing, I let viewers touch, pet, brush the artwork. TLDR; Many people felt taboo, soothing and adored sensations when they touched the artwork. The Other Art Fair, 2024.

Viewer’s hands (+nails+) with my green furwork, Furcucu in the Wild Furloo, I loved how her look matched the fur ~~what a vibe~~ 2024.

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Fur Coat I stitched for Gracie Hagen.
I was inspired to make this coat by the Victorian Era Quilt Block known as the “CRAZY QUILT”

Click image for further details of my process and unique diy style of pattern making. 2023.

SAY HI, LET’S COLLABORATE: CATIEBURRILL@GMAIL.COM

FURCUCU IN THE WILD FURLOO, 2022.
ALL SALVAGED MATERIALS: FAUX FUR, BEDSHEET, VINYL.

One of my furworks was in a noise band show at Purple Window Gallery. Chicago, IL. 2023. So sick.

~~~>above<~~~ Portrait of me! with my furworks at The Other Art Fair, 2024.

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I love my industrial sewing machine!

// above! // A real cowboy (!!!!!!!) petting Pinkie, The Furllufalo, at The Other Art Fair, 2024.

DOLPHINS & DAGGERS POPPET, 2024.
I make handheld dolls inspired by folk magic. Would you like one?

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WHIRLWIND
Being brushed by viewer at The Other Art Fair, 2024.

Still image from ‘Chasing That Bubble Essence of Glory on a Greyhound Bus’ short film, 2022.
“Please join me as I regale yee all with a tale from the roads of yesteryear, of a simpler time, about a young lass hightailing it on a greyhound bus somewhere out in the desert.”

Here I am performing as a “Pink Lady” for Bread & Puppet Theatre Company in Glover, Vermont. 2019.

BULLS EYE, 2024.
FOUND MATERIALS: FAUX FUR, MATTRESS, VINYL.

A fun project I did with Dennissa Young where I taught her to make giant letters, “HAHA” out of leftover faux fur from the artist Nick Cave.

ARTIST’S INFLUENCES:

I am influenced by my experiences traveling with a traditional three-ring circus, working in a Chicago costume shop, and apprenticing for the politically-radical puppet theater, Bread and Puppet in Vermont, USA. I am enamoured by the glittery costumes, public spectacles and lure of running away that can be found in these spaces. Ever curious, my work has themes of camp, world building, show business, wild horses, American gas station culture, and my personal mythology collected from a decade+ of wayfaring.

Always looking ahead, I dream of having a miniature horse ranch one day, preferably off the side of a forgotten dusty road.

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Furworks (L to R): Bulls Eye, High Noon, Pinkie The Furluffalo, Furdangles #1-5, Whirlwind, Furcu in the Wild Furloo. The Other Art Fair, 2024.

tangerine fighter poppet #1, 2024.
I make handheld dolls inspired by folk magic. Would you like one?

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

A preliminary sketch for the pattern of the fur coat I made for Gracie Hagen. I used a traditional Victorian era technique known as “crazy quilting” to develop my pagtt, 2023.

FLYIN HIGH BANNER.
Materials: Fabric, Fringe, Thread, Sequins, Velvet, 2019.

.CURRICULUM VITAE.

PINKIE, THE FURLUFFALO, 2022.

All Salvaged Materials: Faux Fur, Foam and Vinyl.

//above// My work was featured in the School of the Art Institute’s 2023-2024 Student Employment Guide.

LAKE MICHIGAN WATER MONSTER COSTUME, 2019.
Materials: Fabric, Polyfill, Paper Mache, Magnifying Sheet.

QUARANTINING IN A FURRY FACTORY, 2020.

All Salvaged Materials: Faux Fur, Foam and Vinyl.

STUDIO REMNANTS! Making a color palate for an ethereal alien puppet for Chicago Puppeteer, Kim Zyn. 2024.

Rollin’ Dirty Banner. Materials: Velvet, Fringe, Thread, Sequins, Rope, 2019. Click here to learn more about circus past.

SAYHELLO

Email:
CATIEBURRILL@GMAIL.COM
Instagram:
@YESCATIEBURRILL

Let’s send long winded emails and enjoy the computer together.
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WHIRLWIND, 2024.
ALL SALVAGED MATERIALS: FAUX FUR, PLANT HOLDER, MATTRESS, VINYL.

^^^ New finger tat: the sun on the horizon, 2024.

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Mirror Mirror in My Hands├┬┴┬ W.I.P. of throne seat #1. Vinyl. 2024.

$$ one of my favorite GIFs, just for funs, heh heh. 🤭 🤭 🤭

Come visit again soon.

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CATIE BURRILL 😈🏝️ ⚔️ 👑 🎩