Opening on Saturday, April 26, 2025
Exhibition from April 26 to June 21, 2025
Kate MccGwire continues her exploration of the complexities and grotesque underbelly of beauty, where every attraction has its violent or dark opposite. Drawing you in with intricate patterning and seductive aesthetics of glistening feathers, much like a bird attracting a mate, MccGwire’s forms are both sinister and compelling, evoking a mixture of sexual attraction and fearful desire.
In these uncertain times, MccGwire’s work reflects our confusion. Here, there is something askew—working both with and against her innate pull toward perfection and verisimilitude. New materials have been introduced, new techniques learned, and the result is a less certain narrative, one that resists easy interpretation.
The GLITCH series of collaged drawings are central to this theme of misperception. Dense, velvety marks made with ink derived from pollution are severed and reassembled. Our brains instinctively reform and connect the shifting shapes, even as they oscillate before our eyes. THROB, VIBRATE, and BLISTER confound the gaze with their pulsating surfaces, while the continued exploration of the SISSURE series pairs white kid leather—evocative of our visceral selves—with the purity of downy white feathers.
Staying true to her commitment to recycling and honouring discarded materials, MccGwire introduces new forms through THOLE, TORQUE, and VETCH. Reclaimed mahogany from an old display cabinet, ply from a disused crate, and pine from a dismantled frame come together to form new sculptures. In PELLUCID MccGwire transforms delicate waste from a 3D printer into a labyrinth of infinite reflections, repurposing and cherishing materials that would otherwise be discarded.
This exhibition challenges the status quo, subtly reconfiguring the natural order. MccGwire invites you to enter a sensual, ambiguous world, leaving you to question exactly what it is you are looking at.
