Kate McCgwire

A recent artist I have come across. I immediately felt passionate towards her work, I feel it draws you in and just absorbs your thoughts. It relates to me, more then my work as she uses feathers a high amount within her sculptures and feathers are something I admire and love. As my project starter point is myself, I feel as though researching further into Kate will influence me in my work substantially. Another reason for Kate inspiring me as in an interview she goes onto discussing the mythical side to birds, and with my project having an aspect of superstition and symbolism, she fits in perfect to my research.

Kate McCgwire, slick, 2010, photo; Tessa Angus

This image is incredible, Its beauty has great depth for me. The way that the feathers are entwined with each other, as though they are still alive and the bird has just taken another form. I particularly like the way the lights bring out the multi tones within each individual feather. I think elegant would be another suitable describing word to use. When thinking about the texture to this piece, from the photo it looks as though it would be soft but when stroked against the natural flow I can imagine it being quite rough, it would also disturb the way the feathers lay. On a close up photograph, as the piece is 3D, they are formed in a tube type manner, but they look hollow, as though the feathers are just a casing. 

Kate McCgwire, Wrest, 2009, Photo; JP Bland

In an interview with 'Juxtapoz magazine' Kate goes on to say that people label the Pigeon as a 'rat with wings', yet the Dove is seen as the symbol of 'purity, peace and hope', even though both birds are the exact same type, the Dove just has white feathers. In this image of Kate's work, 'Wrest', you wouldn't label it as a piece made from rats with wings, as it's beauty is overpowering and resembles a Pigeon in no way, yet is created from that itself. Again the word popping into my head to describe this is elegant, the way that the sculpture twists and turns but has no edges, it looks completely smooth. I also like how she has used the same type of feather throughout this sculpture as, as in the image before, this makes it look alive, as though it could be a living thing, this again though, is my personal opinion.

Kate McCgwire, Vex, 2008, Photo; Francis Ware

Mentioning before about Kate discussing the mythology of birds, some of her sculptures represent, for me and others, the resemblance of a mythological creature, on her website, there is a small review on this particular piece, it describes it also as a mythological creature, it goes onto saying that it could be alive and hibernating. Her sculptures create many questions in the viewers mind, some strange and some that don't make any sense to the point where you're justifying to yourself that it isn't real, it can't be because it's just a sculpture, but there's always the question of, 'what if?'.