British, London-based artist Kate MccGwire creates mesmerizing sculptures of coiled serpents totally covered with bird feathers she finds in her country.
Taking feathers as her primary medium, Kate MccGwire goes through labour-intensive processes of collecting, sorting and cleaning her materials to create muscular, writhing forms reminiscent of Classical sculpture and creatures from mythology. These abject structures explore dualities of aesthetics, being simultaneously seductive and repulsive; form, being simultaneously organic and abstract; and movement, appearing fluid yet being static. Through her practice, MccGwire celebrates feathers, which are commonly shed or discarded, as the medium through which she articulates enigmatic anatomies that explore physical and introspective space. Speaking on her use of feather as a metaphor for what she terms ‘the duplicity of nature’, Kate MccGwire has said, ‘My work is inspired by the water forming incredible patterns that are there one second and gone the next. Everything is fleeting on the water, it is beautiful but there is danger and treachery underneath the surface. I’m intrigued by that dichotomy.’
Kate MccGwire