Galerie Les filles du calvaire is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Kate MccGwire at the gallery. Included in the exhibition will be sculptures, wall mounted works and a large-scale installation, showcasing the artist’s sustained interest in nature and her personal meditation on life lived on the water.

MccGwire is known for her muscular, writhing forms made with feathers, and reminiscent of Classical sculpture and creatures from mythology. Her works explore dualities of aesthetics, being simultaneously seductive and repulsive; form, being both organic and abstract; and movement, appearing fluid yet being static.

Influenced by the cycles, patterns and currents of water, works in the exhibition explore conflicting relationship between nature and manmade. Observing the dichotomies of nature on her daily wild swims and walks, MccGwire’s makes work inspired by visual rhythms and sequencing observed in flowing water but also its rupture, control and diversion through human interference with dams and weirs.

The artist’s process of creation begins with intense and repetitive method of collecting and preparing the feathers, where each of them is carefully examined and classified according to its size, shape and natural colour. In a compelling and meditative process, MccGwire arranges the feathers to mimic the overall form and patterning of the pieces informed and inspired by the anatomy of birds’ wings.