Artist collects 'secrets'

Cathy McLaurin (r.) explains her work to artists Janit Brockway (l.) and Kit Stafford. photo by Conrad Weiler

A gathering of local artists met last week at the CATS (Community Action Team of Sisters) office in Sisters to hear Cathy McLaurin describe her Installation Art projects.

She is currently a visiting artist at Camp Caldera near Blue Lake.

Installation Art uses a wide variety of media in a created location -- an installation.

One of McLaurin's projects involves collecting secrets. She started this in the Boston area where she has lived for the past dozen years. A private room and locked box are provided for people to write their "secret" and anonymously drop it into the box.

A portable version of this "installation" provides a private booth with curtain, writing counter and locked box. This latter version was used to gather "secrets" in a church (during Lent), a bar and a college campus near Boston.

Later, these secrets were posted on the wall near the booth so various people could read them -- with great interest.

Today, Cathy has gathered over 600 secrets from various people and locations.

Local artist Dennis McGregor asked, "What is a secret? And is it still a secret if you write it down and share it with somebody (even if anonymously)?"

"It's hard to answer that question. However, it seems that we all have the same issues," said McLaurin.

McLaurin said her project at Caldera is the expansion of her "secrets" project into a book produced from the gathered material.

"I didn't know what direction this project might take at the outset but many people who have participated want to read the secrets and have encouraged me to write a book," she said. "Right now I am trying to organize categories of secrets in book format. There are threads of shame, guilt and statements of self."

Stacks of some of the "secrets" were passed around so audience members could get a feeling of expressed secrets.

McLaurin then provided her audience with individual packets for writing their secrets and anonymously mailing them back to her. The secrets are written on 4-by-5-inch brown paper and mailed back to Cathy.

She concluded her presentation describing other art projects that she is taking part in and described her experience at Camp Caldera.

"It's incredible. There are no restrictions and the artist is free to do her thing," she said. "The only request is that if my book is published I give credit for the Caldera support."

To contact Cathy McLaurin email: [email protected]