Confinement

Inspired by the UK lockdowns from coronavirus, Katie developed an interest in the concept of negative space. Inspired by Rachel Whiteread’s casts, she crafted a series of sculptures adding solidity to this vacuum. Using plaster to form body casts allowed her to explore the female nude as a three dimensional mass interacting with the surrounding space, rather than an image of preconceived allure. This development led her to consider the body in terms of the emotional human experience. Like Tracy Emin, she has moved towards a more personally emotional path, rather than staying with projects which relate to individual appearance and aesthetics.

Squares, rectangles and their interaction with the body influenced this project. These rigid, unforgiving shapes are in stark contrast to the human figure and are only found in nature as inorganic matter such as crystals or in man-made structures. Confinement is something that has been experienced globally with lockdowns across the world to protect us from coronavirus and Katie has been using these shapes to represent this. We have been trapped inside, in order to protect ourselves and others. Using boxes, Katie visualises her experience of lockdown, like in Alice in Wonderland when Alice grows too big for the house and expands to fill the space. To create this visual documentation she used a drawer and plaster in order to produce an imprinted sculpture. In a similar way she has deliberately chosen to enhance the edges of canvases by painting in a three dimensional perspective, as if the figure is trapped inside the painting to visually re-create this claustrophobic sensation.

KBarnsley