The British artist Kate McGwire employs the moulted feathers of birds to create strangely haunting sculptures that challenge the distinction between nature and artifice. Here she speaks to AnOther about her unique methodology.
The British artist Kate McGwire employs the moulted feathers of birds to create strangely haunting sculptures that challenge the distinction between nature and artifice. Her enticing serpent-like works, such as Urge, Wrest and Stifle seem to coil in upon themselves endlessly, and have a deeply unsettling impact on the viewer. Here she speaks to AnOther about her unique methodology.
Kate McGwire: The obsessive collecting and organising of objects, whether they be organic or man-made, has always been of interest to me. The idea of working with feathers came to me when I moved into my new studio: a Dutch barge moored on an island on the Thames. There were various empty sheds and barns that were populated by feral pigeons around my studio, and the noise of them cooing in these vast empty spaces was phenomenal. Each time I walked past these places, I noticed moulted feathers lying in my path. The colouration was beautiful and as each day passed I found a new batch. I was intrigued by individual's reactions to the pigeon feathers: most could see nothing but filth and contamination. I started to collect, arrange and layer the feathers and I quickly realised that to make anything out of them, I would need thousands. I contacted racing pigeon enthusiasts from all over the country, explaining to them about what I was trying to achieve and persuaded them to send me their birds' moulted feathers.
When all of the feathers are assembled in an installation, the viewer's reactions to them are transformed, and they often describe them as beautiful and mesmerising. I am fascinated by that transformation of opinion. My aim is to manipulate this common object into a new, playful reality, so it becomes a manifestation of meanings and associations buried within both the old and new interpretation of the form. For me, the use of feathers plays with notions of beauty, but also references something that sits uneasily and is considered unpleasant.
Interview by John-Paul Pryor
You can see Kate McGwire’s large pigeon feather installation, Dead or Alive, at the Museum of Modern and Design in New York, until October
John-Paul Pryor is Arts & Culture Editor at Dazed Digital and writes for Dazed & Confused, TANK, Another and The Quietus His debut novel Spectacles will be published in 2010 by Seabrook Press
