feather sculptures by kate mccgwire

‘quell’, 2011 by kate mccwire dove and pigeon feathers and mixed media in an antique japanned cabinet 159 x 87 x 55 cm all images © tessa angus and courtesy of all visual arts

london-based sculptor kate mccgwire has created a new collection of feather sculptures including ‘guile’, ‘lure’, ‘seer’, ‘quell’, and ‘yearn’. each piece is a winding and lively, yet, frozen shape formed from plumage, making her body of work seem at once both graceful and deadly. the fantastical forms are made from thousands of wing and tail feathers gathered from many birds including those of pigeon, magpie, goose, teal, pheasant, duck and woodcock, collected and sent by mail from farmers and pigeon racers. the sculptor’s time intensive process results in a collection which appeals to our necessary human duality– each organic piece  possesses both an evil and attractive quality. these most recent works are comparatively smaller to her large-scale installations, each one existing as an imposing creature-like shape, writhing as if it were alive. the obscure sculptures are free-flowing forms  which invite the viewer to witness each piece as an object that is both made of nature, but unable to spontaneously exist within  in the natural world. ‘I gather, collate, re-use, layer, peel, burn, reveal, locate, question, duplicate, play and photograph.‘ -kate mccgwire

additional view of ‘quell’

‘lure’, 2011 crow feathers and mixed media in an antique mahogany cabinet 159 x 56 x 55 cm

the movement of the feathers in ‘lure’ make the piece a lively work

‘yearn’, 2011 mixed media with mallard speculum feathers in antique mahogany cabinet 46 x 51 x 23 cm

views of the quill-filled drawer both opened and closed

detailed view of ‘yearn’

‘guile’, 2011 mixed media with pigeon and dove feathers in antique black cabinet on black table 67 x 71 x 39 cm

a view of the precise flow of feathers in the curve of ‘guile’

‘seer’, 2011 mixed media with crow feathers in antique mahogany cabinet on black table 101 x 63 x 63 cm

‘caché’, 2011 mixed media with pigeon tail feathers and antique trunk. 53 x 64 x 39 cm

detailed view of ‘caché’