Biography

Kate MccGwire (b. 1964) is a British, London-based artist who spent her childhood growing up on the Norfolk Broads. MccGwire’s early memories of this distinct landscape, dominated by its wetlands, serpentine waterways and the wildlife that lives along the region's waters, form the foundations of her practice, which is inspired by the cycles, patterns and dualities of nature.

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.’

Situated within a lineage of female artists who have worked with fiber art, soft sculpture and organic material, Kate MccGwire explores form, space and volume through her work. The artist’s hybrid, ’boundary creatures’ (as termed by Dr. Catriona McAra) often fill their framing devices and appear to writhe within them. On this, MccGwire has said, ‘I am interested in the interplay of opposites which runs like a leitmotif through everything I do. It is as if the work needs that tension to create its own internal equilibrium; it is an expression for me of the duality I see all around me and the materials I choose need to be able to physically embody this.’

Titled ‘Retch’, ‘Gag’, ‘Heave’, ‘Smother’ and ‘Fuse’, Kate MccGwire’s sculptural installations often refer to the feminine grotesque. Resembling bodily functions, the works often spill out of domestic architecture : stoves, fireplaces and hearths, as though spellbound.

On the process of creation, Kate MccGwire has described her distinct feathering process as compelling and hypnotic : ‘I lose myself in it for hours, working instinctually – you can't plan how to lay the feathers out, nor can you really teach someone. Each feather contributes to the overall patterning of a piece, and it is this implicit sense of movement in the shifting colours and gentle curve of each filament that brings the work to life. This final stage draws on the rituals of craft, on the connection between hand and eye and the natural serendipity that happens when you become fully immersed in giving life to an idea.’

A monograph on Kate MccGwire’s work was published by Anomie in spring 2021.

Kate MccGwire graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Sculpture in 2004 and a BFA from the University College for the Creative Arts, Farnham in 2001. Selected solo exhibitions include Menagerie, Harewood House, Leeds, UK (2020); Dichotomy, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, UK (2018); Secrete, Galerie Huit, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong (2016); Scissure, La Galerie Particulière, Paris, France (2018); Covert, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France (2014); Lure, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, South Korea (2013); Host, Pertwee, Anderson & Gold, London, UK (2011) and Issue, M2 Gallery, London, UK (2005).

Selected group exhibitions include Iris Van Herpen.Sculpting the Senses, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France (2023); Unbreakable: Women in Glass, Fondazione Berengo, Murano, Italy (2020); Bêtes de Scéne, Espace Monte-Cristo, Paris, France (2020); Feathers: Warmth, Seduction, Flight, Gewerbe Museum, Winterthur, Switzerland (2019); Gaïa, What Are You Becoming?, Guerlain House, Paris, France (2019); Summer Exhibition 2019, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK); Painting Still Alive, Centre of Contemporary Art, Toruń, Poland (2018); Without a Label I Feel Freer, Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, Germany (2018); Doing Identity: The Reydan Weiss Collection, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany (2017); Erwarten Sie Wunder! The Museum as Cabinet of Curiosity, Museum Ulm, Germany (2017); Entangled: Threads & Making, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2017); Glasstress Boca Raton, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA (2017); Memories of the Future, Thomas Olbricht Collection, Maison Rouge, Paris, France (2012); Dead or Alive, Museum of Art & Design, New York, USA (2010); This and That, Shenghua Art Centre, Nanjing, China (2006) and Galleon and Other Stories, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2004).