
These sculptural works from Kate MacDowell are as delicately beautiful as they are uncomfortably disturbing. Her pieces often merge the human form into and around that of the animal and plant world, creating surreal images which embody a spirit of decay. While they could be simply taken as an imaginative interweaving of life and its creatures, the meaning behind her work is far reaching:
“In my work this romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment. These pieces are in part responses to environmental stressors including climate change, toxic pollution, and gm crops. They also borrow from myth, art history, figures of speech and other cultural touchstones. In some pieces aspects of the human figure stand-in for ourselves and act out sometimes harrowing, sometimes humorous transformations which illustrate our current relationship with the natural world. In others, animals take on anthropomorphic qualities when they are given safety equipment to attempt to protect them from man-made environmental threats. In each case the union between man and nature is shown to be one of friction and discomfort with the disturbing implication that we too are vulnerable to being victimized by our destructive practice
dreams come true (by Rob Aparicio)
Newfoundlander puppy
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Stand set out to create a marque that captured the variety of courses on offer at the...
These sculptural works from Kate MacDowell are as delicately beautiful as they are uncomfortably disturbing. Her pieces...
These sculptural works from Kate MacDowell are as delicately beautiful as they are uncomfortably disturbing. Her pieces...