{"id":10542,"date":"2019-03-05T11:15:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T16:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=10542"},"modified":"2021-04-05T08:04:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T12:04:15","slug":"caitlin-nicole-duennebier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/03\/05\/caitlin-nicole-duennebier\/","title":{"rendered":"Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier\u2019s Big Furry Dead Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first thing you come upon at \u201cLove Superior, a Death Supreme\u201d<\/a>\u2014the exhibition by sisters Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier (\u201cNicole is three years older than me and when we were little she was like my protector,\u201d Caitin says) at Simmons University\u2019s Trustman Art Gallery in Boston from Feb. 9 to March 18, 2019\u2014is the bloody, rotting cartoony corpse of what appears to be a yeti or a Muppet monster.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s left of the purple-furred creature is scattered across a bed of green mossy fabric on the floor. There are limbs with bones sticking out, a blue face with red (yarn) blood pouring out the neck, organs (soft sculptures) sprawled inside a (wood) ribcage. Black flies hover above.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it as being just a thing that\u2019s come upon,\u201d Nicole says of \u201cRebirth of Maurice,\u201d the sisters\u2019 title for the sculpture. \u201cI like when you\u2019re walking in the woods when you come upon something that doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lived near woods growing up\u201d in East Hampton, Connecticut, Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Love Superior, a Death Supreme” at Simmons University’s Trustman Art Gallery, Boston, Feb. 22, 2019. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nicole studied at Maine College of Art in Portland. Caitlin studied photography at MassArt in Boston. Nicole moved to Boston\u2014into Caitlin\u2019s apartment\u2014when Caitlin moved to London for a while and then came back. Nicole now resides in Malden and Caitlin in Watertown.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove Superior, a Death Supreme\u201d features collaborations as well as artworks they produced individually\u2014Caitlin\u2019s cartoony paintings of people and creatures; Nicole\u2019s Dutch-old-master-style still-lifes and landscapes.<\/p>\n

Nicole describes her work as \u201can old Dutch person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s old Dutch abstract paintings,\u201d Caitlin says. \u201cMine is more simplistic. I tend to only work in black and white. Characters and narratives are part of my work. Dark humor and strangeness I think is part of both of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s some wish fulfillment too,\u201d Nicole says of her sister\u2019s art. \u201cThere\u2019s always this big beefy lady looking over the shoulder of this guy and she\u2019s like, \u2018Hey!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of sassy women,\u201d Caitlin acknowledges. Their mom \u201cwas a big influence in our lives, especially my life. You don\u2019t need to take shit from anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Congregation on the Brightest Night,” 2017, painting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Together their art takes on a sardonic humor and features powerful women, ghosts, monsters, death and decay. \u201cWe always made these narrative as we grew up, weird little stories that made us laugh,\u201d Caitlin says. \u201cThis is continuing that into adulthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Detail<\/a>
Detail of Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Hello Hell,” 2017, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Hello Hell,” 2017, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, \u201cHello Hell\u201d is a wooden coffin filled with a diorama of black and white drawings of giant topless women menacing hapless souls in a cave.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy personal hell,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coffin is perfectly Caitlin shaped,\u201d Nicole notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t fit Nicole,\u201d Caitin agrees. \u201cThe large woman stomping around is an old roommate in college who used to stomp around topless and in her underwear yelling at me.\u201d Black creatures with numerous eyes are inspired by a recurring childhood dream, Caitlin says, of a monster that would lurk at the top of the stairs to swallow her.<\/p>\n

\"Detail<\/a>
Detail of Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Hello Hell,” 2017, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Detail<\/a>
Detail of Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Hello Hell,” 2017, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Collaborating can be complicated. \u201cWe oftentimes try not to work together,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try not to look over each other\u2019s shoulders,\u201d Nicole says. \u201cWe\u2019ve found that\u2019s not a good dynamic for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But people are fascinated that they\u2019re both artists. They get invited to do projects together. \u201cWe started doing dioramas because it seemed the easiest way. Nicole making the backgrounds and I\u2019m making the people and we could move them around almost like dollhouses,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t want to paint on top of my stuff,\u201d Nicole says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNicole is making these big beautiful landscapes and I\u2019m putting my stupid little people on them,\u201d Caitlin says. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to be making paintings together, we have to be stepping out of our comfort zones. We have to be doing something together that we wouldn\u2019t have done in our solo practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “The Dead and Dying on Caviar Mountain,” 2019, painting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSculpture\u2019s been very important to us recently,\u201d Nicole says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither of us had any experience with it,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “The Furies,” 2018, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Furies,\u201d a series of papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 heads sporting wigs from 2018, \u201cwas one of our first attempts at making sculptures together,\u201d Nicole says. Eyes sit in bloody head-caves or ooze out of sockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were originally sitting in Montserrat [College of Art] overlooking this apocalyptic scene,\u201d Nicole says. \u201cI also see them as ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Love Superior, a Death Supreme” at Simmons University’s Trustman Art Gallery, Boston, Feb. 22, 2019. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Rebirth of Maurice,” 2019, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cRebirth of Maurice\u201d (2019), Nicole says, \u201cstarted off as an old man in a bath tub.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a rotting monster with birds tearing it apart, with guts and happy-face mushrooms,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

They texted sketches back and forth. \u201cWe ended up with this sort of obliterated monster,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started feeling weird about building the face and feeling bad that he was decapitated,\u201d Nicole says.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Rebirth of Maurice,” 2019, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maurice, Caitlin explains, was \u201cmy old car\u2019s name. It was a 1990 Volvo 240. It was always falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always liked that you had this big, smelly car that was named Maurice,\u201d Nicole says. \u201cAnd I think that stuck with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely comes back to finding something in the woods and it\u2019s strange and you have to ask yourself what happened here,\u201d Caitlin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always gotten through bad situations, growing up and now, making fun of it,\u201d Caitlin says. \u201cMaking light of a bad situation that\u2019s always been part of how we get by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNegativity,\u201d Nicole says, \u201cis so much more interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong> Nicole Duennebier’s Sumptuous Paintings Evoke The Old Masters\u2014If They Painted Oozing Piles Of Meat<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Infestation of Hanging Garden,” 2017, acrylic and paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Detail<\/a>
Detail of Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Infestation of Hanging Garden,” 2017, acrylic and paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “The Furies,” 2018, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “Rebirth of Maurice,” 2019, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “The Furies,” 2018, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier, “The Furies,” 2018, mixed media. (Photo: Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin Duennebier, “Even the Bugs and Animals Are Sad,” No. 1-25, milk paint on birch hardwood ply.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nicole<\/a>
Nicole Duennebier, “Landscape with Pink Folds,” acrylic on panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nicole<\/a>
Nicole Duennebier, “Still Life with Grapes and Black Mold,” acrylic on panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first thing you come upon at \u201cLove Superior, a Death Supreme\u201d\u2014the exhibition by sisters Caitlin and Nicole Duennebier (\u201cNicole is three years older than me and when we were little she was like my protector,\u201d Caitin says) at Simmons University\u2019s Trustman Art Gallery in Boston from Feb. 9 to March 18, 2019\u2014is the bloody, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[37,848,41,846,527,526],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10542"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13670,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10542\/revisions\/13670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}