Humanity is exalted not because we are so far above other living creatures, but because knowing them well elevates the very concept of life. E.O. Wilson, 1984

6 Jan 2012

Nature in Motion: Kate MccGwire

Winter is well under way and darkness arrives earlier and earlier. By the time I leave the library and revision hell, the sky is already inky black and the streetlights are on. Rather than shut myself indoors to avoid the spitting rain and bracing winds, I cross the Seine. The surface is choppy, with flecks of foam and undulating currents giving the usually slow river a very different feel, one of life. As the rain reaches its heaviest, I force my way through the entrance of the Maison Rouge, into a lifeless clinical postmodern art gallery. I am here to see "Mémoires du Futur", a cabinet of curiosity curated by Thomas Olbricht, drawn once again by my fascination with alternate perceptions of nature. 

Walking around the galleries I could not help but be disappointed, for here was another stale gallery filled with gaudy plastic bling and in-trend ubiquitous skulls. So it was with a surge of joy when I turned a corner to spy a glass and mahogany cabinet of old, but bursting with life. Behind the glass, inanimate feathers arranged in a serpentine swirl of movement formed an endless knot. Relics of a once living creature, given a new lease in an otherworldly formation, the characteristic work of Kate MccGwire.

Lure 2011, Vex 2008, Gag 2009
For a long time, I have wanted to see this artist’s work. From her studio on the banks of another tumultuous river, MccGwire creates these flights of fancy, inspired by the surrounding forces of nature and their inherent “seething undercurrent”. Collecting feathers from disused warehouses, or from racing pigeon clubs, she breathes new life and creates motion, by arranging these in organic bodily forms devoid of a true reflection. Nature is represented here not in a controlled still, as in a painting or photo, but as a force of motion, a dynamic process and ultimately as an unknown.

No comments:

Post a Comment