{"id":1668,"date":"2025-08-05T07:51:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=1668"},"modified":"2025-08-05T07:51:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:51:45","slug":"quiver-surveys-twenty-years-of-striking-feather-sculptures-by-kate-mccgwire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=1668","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Quiver\u2019 Surveys Twenty Years of Striking Feather Sculptures by Kate MccGwire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u2018Quiver\u2019<\/p>\n

Although we\u2019re familiar with numerous birds displaying bright blue hues, from the aptly named blue jays to indigo buntings to various species of heron, this color in avians\u2019 feathers is actually a trick of physics<\/a>. While hues like red and yellow are produced from pigments, blue results from the way light interacts with molecules inherent to the structure of the feathers. And it\u2019s this delightful, elusive luster that lends itself so well to Kate MccGwire<\/a>\u2019s striking sculptures.<\/p>\n

Next month, MccGwire (previously<\/a>) opens a solo exhibition at the Djanogly Gallery at Lakeside Arts<\/a> titled Quiver,<\/em> surveying two decades of the artist\u2019s work with ethically sourced feathers. Striking, framed wall pieces meet undulating specimens in freestanding vitrines and large-scale, site-specific installations. The vintage glass cases and domes nod to the 19th-century fascination with taxidermied trophy animals that adorned museum walls and grand private homes.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cQuiver\u201d (2012). Photo by Ian Stuart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working from a converted Dutch barge in West London, MccGwire\u2019s studio mirrors her interest in nature. Like water, her compositions shimmer in the light and appear to swirl and roil, whether pool-like in frames or serpentine and encased in glass. Plumbing the inherent tensions between themes of beauty and revulsion, life and death, and wildness and captivity, the artist encourages us to consider our emotional and ever-evolving relationship with nature.<\/p>\n

Quiver <\/em>runs from September 20 to January 4 in Nottingham. If you\u2019re in Sag Harbor, you can also see MccGwire\u2019s work in The Ark <\/em>at The Church, curated by Eric Fischl, which continues through September 1. And a piece is also included in Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses<\/em>, which runs through August 10 at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore before traveling to the Kunsthal, Rotterdam, where it opens on September 27. Find more on the MccGwire\u2019s website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cFlex\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cCavort (West)\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cHost.\u201d Photo by Tessa Angus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cReel\u201d (2015). Photo by JP Bland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cStifle.\u201d Photo by Tessa Angus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cGyrus\u201d (2019). Photo by JP Bland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cSurge (Columba).\u201d Photo by Tessa Angus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cGag\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article \u2018Quiver\u2019 Surveys Twenty Years of Striking Feather Sculptures by Kate MccGwire<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although we\u2019re familiar with numerous birds displaying bright blue hues, from the aptly named blue jays to indigo buntings to various species of heron, this color in avians\u2019 feathers is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}