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Catherine McCaw-Aldworth was born in Darlington 1998 and since has lived all over the UK and Spain. Catherine recently graduated from The University of Creative Arts on BA Fine Art and is currently completing an MA Fine Art at UCA Farnham.
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Working in multiple medias, Catherine’s work and practice focuses around the connection between the body and domestic, exploring the relationships our bodies and our discarded materials have within the physical home. She also finds interest in exploring ideas around a metaphorical home, a non-domestic space such as heaven. My work is rooted in a deep curiosity of our dwellings and homes, their appliances, and furniture. There is a certain object-orientated ontology in which we, as humans amongst other objects, can identify and attach to, and it is from this ontological position that I investigate the home. I often make connections to female identity throughout the home, to make sense of the female body's relationship to the domestic space. My current practice produces sculpture and installation but also features photography and video in certain areas. The materials are always unpredictable, it can be all smooth sailing, and the next minute materials temperamental and mischievous; nothing will go my way. It keeps me in a constant challenge, work can never be exactly replicated or refabricated. Using these unpredictable materials where an element of failure is almost always present shows the decomposition and impermanence of the work, much like the impermanence of our own materiality. It also brings forth ideas of play and often evokes memories from childhood, sometimes using overwhelming sensory elements such as smell, touch, and taste with the intention to trigger nostalgia and to allow the viewer to connect to the work, through sense memory and personal experience.
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Sigmund Freud said in his essay on the uncanny that “the Uncanny is something hidden which ought to have remained missed but which is brought to light.” This is what I look to create in my work; hidden meanings and connections left behind in everyday things, perhaps a forgotten memory or a missed connotation, an underestimated intimacy or an unconventional comfort. I look to seek out these underlying things and bring them forward to be seen by the world.
Born: Darlington, Co. Durham 1998
Currently lives and works in Farnham, Surrey
Email: catherinemccawaldworth@gmail.com
Instagram: @catherine.mccaw.art
Education
2017- Present BA Fine Art, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
2016-2017 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, GCS Llwyn y Bryn
Exhibitions
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2021 Do it Yourway - Online Exhibition
2020 Fronteer Lockdown - Online Exhibition
2020 The Comfort Zine - Online Publication
2020 Get off yer Arse - Online Publication
2019 Champagne taste, Beer budget – The William Cobbett, Farnham
2019 Pie in the Sky – Proteus Creation Space, Basingstoke
2019 No Fit State -- Asylum Space, London
2019 Domestic Disharmony – Unify Project Space, Farnham
2019 Pint Sized – Brewery Tap, Folkestone, UCA Project Space
2019 To Be Confirmed - The Offside Project, UCA, Farnham
2019 Dictionary of Received Ideas – Elaine Thomas Gallery, UCA, Farnham
2018 Fragmented – The Offside Project, UCA, Farnham
2018 Stretched – Linear Gallery, UCA, Farnham
2018 Cut-and-Shut – Arts Space Portsmouth, Portsmouth
2018 Untitled/Unmastered – The Menier Gallery, London
2017 Las Meninas – Linear Gallery, UCA, Farnham
2017 Visual Arts Summer Show – GCS Llwyn y Bryn, Swansea
Curatorial Projects
2019 Pie in the Sky, Proteus creation space, Basingstoke
Co-curating with fellow artist Eleanor McLean. Overseeing general tasks and corresponding with gallery.
2019 Dress for change, Guildford
Group intervention piece, took place in the nightlife scene of Guildford. Group wearing screen printed dresses of feminist quotes. My role was to contact and secure artists to work with and also help to coordinate communication in the group as well as being a team leader.
2019 Domestic Disharmony, Unify Project Space, Farnham
My role in this exhibition was the head curator and gallery technician. I booked the space and sought out the other artists with which I exhibited work. I took charge of all the paperwork and floor plan. I was the director for the install ad deinstall.
2018/2019 Black Box, UCA Farnham
My role as a part of the Black Box team is to help bring external artists into the space, coordinating with them about their work and how they envision the exhibition. Also, being a part of the invigilating for the events, advertising, fundraising and visiting external shows nearby to represent the Black Box team.
2018 Gallery technician for Cut-and-Shut exhibition, Arts Space Portsmouth
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2018 High and Dry exhibition, Brighton
My main role was to find all the artists and contact them throughout the entire process, as well as coordinate them and their work. Contacting and discussing permission for land usage with the local council. Managing and co-ordinating the group. Overviewing the financial aspects of the install and also arranging transport for the pieces.
Work
Gallery Assistant at The University for the Creative Arts;
Working alongside artists and students to install and deinstall art work. Sorting through art archives and paperwork. Preparing the gallery spaces. Curating smaller exhibitions.
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