Kate MacDowell

 

Each of Kate MacDowell‘s pieces is sculpted out of porcelain, bit by bit, allowing for an otherworldly luminosity, plenty of strength, and the ability to show fine texture. Each work of art immediately takes on the appearance of a specimen being preserved and studied after passing away from the effects of environmental issues.

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 practices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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