Kate MccGwire creates spellbinding, darkly sensual sculptures by layering feathers over serpentine structures. Referencing mobius strips, these forms seem to curl in and undulate within themselves, the densely packed and perfectly placed feathers adding both an organic quality and flow to each piece. The viewer’s eye naturally follow the feathers much like watching the flow of a river, giving an illusion of gently writhing movement in each piece—which seem to either twist in an infinity loop or explode in a startling burst, like a jet of water bursting through a wall.
MccGwire has worked with organic, natural materials such as wood and bone for several years, but it is her feather sculptures that seem to have really put her on the art map, for they are truly astonishing in both workmanship as well as the profound sense of power they emanate. Whether it is small sculptures encased in their own tiny bell jars to huge room-sized installations, the sheer volume of feathers needed to create each sculpture is astonishing.
The three meter long, sculpture “Corvid” used over 10,000 feathers for example, and it took years to collect enough of them!
This constant and laborious search for materials necessitates that MccGwire source feathers all over her country of England through a network of pigeon racers, gamekeepers, and members of the general public. She sees this collaboration between herself and the feather collectors who help her as being integral as well as inspiring to her creation process. She is also one of the seemingly few artists who actually not only acknowledges her contributors and assistants, but also thanks them publicly on her website as well! One of the few things she does not choose to speak about too much is her actual construction of the sculptures. While the feathers are attached with the help of able hands-the actual underlying structure is conceptualized and created by MccGwire alone-and she is reticent to speak too much more about it. This keeps the work a bit mysterious and tantalizing to ruminate about.
