FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH 2014

Katie McCann

Katie McCann’s fantastical collages are derived from a sense of wonder and discovery she has retained since childhood.  She uses carefully selected collage to construct intricate and unexpected figures, animals and tableaux. Whimsical and absurd, McCann's editing of found vintage material creates new, old things to absorb and enchant us.

McCann attended the London College of Fashion where she studied fashion illustration, styling and fashion journalism.  She has had recent solo exhibitions at Arte Artesania, Spain,and Eclectix Gallery, El Cerrito and has participated in many recent group exhibitions in the Bay Area. Her work can be seen at ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, Gary Francis Fine Art, Alameda, and Arte Artesania, Spain, and as part of the 60 Box Project in Berkeley near the Civic Center. 

Artist Statement

I have known such a creature” (Charles Altamont Doyle) is how I start my collages. As a child, I lived in a wonder world of faeries, witches, science fiction and botany. Not much has changed, the only difference being that I record all of my thoughts and stories in the form of intricately cut and pieced together collages. I like everything old and a little tired so I seek out images and photographs that are antique, vintage and forgotten. I transform these paper memories and records into other worldly creatures who are sometimes static like specimens and at other times are surviving in a unique habitat. I am rooted in the tradition of old fashioned childhood where discovery was at the bottom of the garden in amongst the crushed leaves, the lilac and the fungi. I hope that the creatures I uncovered in that quiet landscape are reflected in my collages.

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