Catherine Goodman has spent 25 years painting in both the Himalayas and at her studio and home in London. Her work captures both these environments in her signature style, which is energetic to the point of appearing frenzied.
Close up, her pieces seem like a vortex of unordered brush strokes, but on stepping back the subject becomes clearer and it all falls into place. For semi-abstract painters like Goodman there is always a fine line between capturing the energy of an environment and cluttering a piece to such an extent that it loses focus. Her interior works could fall on either side of this fence but it's her paintings of her cabin in its mountainous environs that get this balance spot on.
The powerful works capture the strong winds and snowstorms expected high up in the mountains and provide the viewer with a sensation of what it must be like over there. Her most striking works are those that use a starker palette of greys with either splashes of yellow or red to draw the attention.
Goodman has also experimented with drawings of famous Renaissance works and though they contain her usual energy, an artist copying another never results in their best work.
The central focus of this exhibition are the Himalayan paintings and they rightfully stand out as the best works on display and the ones visitors will want to spend the most time with.
Catherine Goodman: Worlds Within is on at Marlborough Fine Art, 6 Albemarle Street, W1S 4BY until 6 October. Entrance is free.
