Katie McGuire

I am an artist/sculptor working in fibre/textiles. I experiment with the traditional handmade techniques of weaving, crocheting and knitting ,contrasting traditional fibre/yarns/thread with a contemporary material: Polycord. Polycord is an extruded cord used as a backing rod for filling gaps/insulation in the construction industry.
Polycord is codified as male, a material used in the construction industry stereotyped as a masculine occupation. Opposed to this, I create work using handicraft techniques, firmly stereotyped to codified as feminine. Therefore, I use the male and female together allowing the blurring of stereotypes towards gender within the workplace.

Ridge

Ridge' is an exploration of shape, form and interior in a way that allows the controversial material which I use to become expressive and openly displayed. Ridge is created in a Polystyrene Backer Rod used in construction and building sites, a seemingly masculine material juxtaposed with stereotypical female traditional techniques. This sculpture is created through being crocheted by hand. The sculpture purposely exposes an uneven surface emphasising the image of an interior, echoing the idea of taking an interior material, and forcing it to be an exterior, it immediately takes the material out of its comfort zone.

http://www.katiemcguireart.com

UKYA PROJECTS:

UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019