“Catherine Alden also makes a strong impression. In two works, from the “Power Series,” she has woven brightly colored power tool extension cords, combining traditional women’s craft with decidedly masculine materials. In “Unemployment,” she has pressed work shirts under large steel plate, infusing minimalist form with political content. And in “Handwiches,” she has also used steel plate as a pressing device, forcing yellow, plasticized gloves to bunch out at the bottom like obscenely mutating udders.”

– David Bonetti, SF Examiner March 12, 1993

“Alden produces ambitious constructions using steel, fabric, and wood. Best of all is “Whitman: A Song of Occupations,” which juxtaposes loops of soft cloth tape stenciled with words such as “house-building’ and “glass-blowing” spilling from a hard-edge steel wall mounting. Based on Whitman’s poem of the same name, Alden honors¾as did Whitman–the purity of labor.”

– Dorothy Burkhart, San Jose Mercury July 1991