Catherine Monahon is an audio storyteller, arts facilitator and small business owner based in Oakland, California. Using the intimacy of sound and the sensuality of materials, they create experiences that invite us to connect with our creative impulses, our bodies, and our spirits. Their goal is to enrich our relationships with our own creativity and sense of belonging in the world through narrative audio, interactive installations, essays and arts curriculum.
They run Waveform Ceramics, a somatic clay classroom in Oakland specializing in beginners and focusing on the healing, empowering nature of clay. They also produce Material Feels, an audio project and podcast exploring the intimate relationship between artists and their materials. Their interactive installation, Conversations with the Material World (CwtMW), is currently on tour, with recent exhibitions at the Smithsonian's Hirschhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Their writing about illness, disability and art has been published in The New York Times, MIT Press, and the British Medical Journal. As a field recordist, they’ve captured audio for Audible, iHeartRadio, NPR, Bon Appetit, the Smithsonian, Freakonomics, 99% Invisible and Microsoft.
Their artwork has been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s Hirschhorn Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Clay Clubhouse, Grace Cathedral, The Organization for Human Brain Mapping, and Omni Commons.
CV
EXHIBITIONS
The body’s largest organ, drawings and paintings exhibited at annual Queers Don’t Cry show | Clay Clubhouse, Oakland, CA | September 2022
Conversations with the Material World, interactive audio installation at Yerba Buena Night | Yerba Buena Art Gardens, San Francisco, CA| October 2022
Trust ______, interactive audio installation at Sound Scene Festival | D.C. Listening Lounge & Smithsonian Hirschhorn| Smithsonian Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. | June 2022
“Two minutes, a few dozen times,” interactive audio installation at Freehold Art Exchange | July 2021
Poetry In Motion, Embroideries of the brain in collaboration with Elizabeth Jameson | International Brain-Mapping Conference, Vancouver, BC | June 2017
PUBLICATIONS
Material Feels | Narrative documentary-style art materials podcast and monthly audio art project | November 2019 – November 2022.
To Feed Me Is To Know Me | The New York Times Sunday Review, July 12, 2020.
"Intimate Visions: Representations of the Imperfect Body in the Age of Digital Medicine"; Leonardo Journal, MIT Press, 2020. Losing Touch, Finding Intimacy | The New York Times & About Us: An Anthology of Essays From The New York Times Disability Series. September 2018 & September 2019.
"Wheelchair Design and Technology", New Mobility, April 2018.
“I wish my health provider knew…”, British Medical Journal Opinion, January 2018.
Self-Driving Car Tech Can Help Another Form of Transport: Wheelchairs, WIRED Magazine, November 2017.
EXPERIENCE
OWNER | WAVEFORM CERAMICS | January 2022 - Present Teacher, clay artist and owner-operator of a small business! I offer 1:1 clay classes out of a home studio I built out, where I also produce pottery inspired by my work in audio. Tasks also include marketing, accounting and some basic plumbing & carpentry.
AUDIO ENGINEER | Field recordist capturing audio for PORTRAITS (The Smithsonian), The Journal (Wall Street Journal), Food People (Bon Appetit), Freakonomics M.D., Futurology & Radiant Minds (Audible), 70 over 70 (Pineapple Street Studios) Microsoft and 99% Invisible.
PRODUCER + HOST | MATERIAL FEELS PODCAST | Oakland, CA | 2019 - Present I coordinate, conduct and record interviews, write scripts, edit, score and promote a monthly documentary-style, sound lush audio project and podcast.
COPYWRITER | MACPHERSON’S ART SUPPLY | Emeryville, CA | 2018 – 2021 As lead writer for Art Dog Blog, I published articles weekly for a niche readership of 3,000+ retailers. I interviewed artists, small business owners and industry leaders; coordinated and hosted Art Dog Live!, a series of virtual panels on industry topics. Also responsible for technical copy for over 40K+ art supplies.
STUDIO MANAGER & WRITER | JAMESON FINE ART | Lafayette, CA | 2015 – 2018 Curated and installed exhibits, co-created presentations including a Ted X talk, created embroideries of Elizabeth Jameson’s brain scans, co-wrote articles focusing on illness, disability and the arts.
RELEVANT SKILLS Field Recording/Tape Syncs, Adobe Audition, Logic, Hindenburg, Descript, iMovie, Photoshop, InDesign, Canva, Headliner, Social Media, Excel, Ceramics, Drawing, Painting
EDUCATION & RESIDENCIES
AUDIO STORYTELLING RESIDENCY | Freehold Art Exchange | Freehold, NY | July 2021
UC BERKELEY ADVANCED MEDIA INSTITUTE | Podcast Bootcamp | Berkeley, CA, November 2019
ARTIST TEACHING RESIDENCY | The Loomis Chaffee School | Windsor, CT | October 2014
CONNECTICUT COLLEGE | New London, CT | 2008 – 2012 | Graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Studio Art and American Studies; Honors Thesis explored intersectional identity and body politics. Received Senior Art Award.
