I am so excited to have had an abstract accepted for the 1st International Contemporary Material Art Symposium at Contemporary Art Institute, Tsinghua University in China.

Trace was an exhibition and talk given at Oxford Human Rights Festival and comprises a body of work that explores the individuality of unidentified human remains. As an artist Katie’s approach is though creative practice, questioning the boundaries between being and not being, existing and not existing as well as the borders between these spaces. Can we acknowledge a previous existence in a way that cares, without simply being a number on a database? Memory is held within belongings, the smell of the person, the stain or mark left after a memorable event. There is so much held within these items and it is this that recognises the life lived. In death our senses seek the bodily imprint left, captured and preserved to maintain a physical connection. This transformation is subtle and immediate and brings to mind ideas of relics as a form of sacred memory and healing.

Katie’s work explores ideas of absence and presence, the impressions left after interactions or brief encounters and asks the viewer to question how we consider, think about and remember the lives that were lived by unidentified human remains. Subjects of Katie’s work includes homeless people in the UK, and victims of genocide in Rwanda.

Oxford Human Rights Festival

I will be exhibiting my work at the “Dying alone and its afterlives in Contact-less socialities” conference at The Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin Germany in April 2023

Work Chosen for 1st International Contemporary Material Art Biennale in China

“Material Thinking” 1st International Contemporary Material Art Biennale received 2066 artworks from 80 countries and districts all over the world. 1196 pieces of artworks were submitted from overseas and 870 pieces of artworks from China. The artworks were selected by the international jury committee anonymously. 150 artworks were finally selected for the Biennale, including 82 artworks from overseas and 68 artworks from China.

Bound up Material: Objects or material other than human remains that are in some way physically bound up or attached to them so to in effect be part of them.

For this project I have explored identity though the belongings left with unidentified human remains. These belongings directly and indirectly represent both people’s bodies and their identities. Belongings form part of the social or cultural identity of individuals, and these conscious decisions can define and determine how they are perceived by others.

I chose to work with gelatine bioplastic because it is bodily, made from pig collagen sourced from skin, bone, and connective tissue. It also has a direct connection to forensics in the UK as pigs are used to train cadaver dogs.

Gelatine Bioplastic is transparent and ephemeral, that can physically embody the idea of something missing. As a biodegradable material, it slowly breaks down (just as bodies do) becoming part of its surroundings. This references the ‘unseen’ a metaphor for the unseen in society, the lonely, the homeless or outsiders that many unidentified people inevitably were.

When items are extracted from the bioplastic ‘skin’ they leave a residual trace of the leather surface, showing the individuality of each item. Creases and lines highlight a sense of lived experience and this trace parallels aspects of forensic investigation such as fingerprint retrieval.

With this work I hope to raise awareness of the existence of individuals who have died unnoticed, people who are currently only acknowledged as a reference on a database. In death belongings have an increased poignancy every mark seems to have a story to tell. To loved ones these are precious items kept safe to remember times spent together, but when items are discovered with unidentified human remains the individuality of items is perhaps all we have, to suggest who that person may have been.

I am excited to announce that I have had my first academic paper published in TEXTILE – Cloth and Culture by Taylor and Francis.

It is open access and available to all.

You can read it here

Rwanda

In April 1994, the people of Rwanda suffered a tragedy of momentous proportions – while the world stood by and watched it happen. Over the course of only 100 days, a stupefying 1,000,000 innocent fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, young and old alike were slaughtered. They were hacked to death with machetes and nail-studded clubs. They were shot dead with guns. They were beaten, tortured, abused and left to die. Many of the women and girls who were not killed were forcibly and violently sexually assaulted by HIV+ men as part of a systematic rape campaign which used the deadly potency of the AIDS virus as a tool of slow death.

The situation for survivors of the Rwandan genocide today remains dire. Many survivors are homeless as the perpetrators of the genocide have moved into the homes of their victims. Many survivors carry the scars and wounds of genocide and a number are HIV+. More genocide orphans are being created all the time as women who were raped during the genocide die of AIDS. Children are being left to fend for themselves and many look after even younger children. Few survivors or their dependents are able to afford to go to school so the chances of them securing a brighter future for themselves are slim.

This trip is being organised by Sandhurst School

The trip

In February 2022 I will be visiting Rwanda to work on a range of projects which will leave a lasting benefit and legacy for survivors

During the trip we will be:

• Decorating and furnishing new homes ready for orphaned children to move into.
• Teaching in two Rwandan schools and presenting valuable educational materials to support the schools that have very little resources.
• Working with street children projects. Taking an extra suitcases with clothes, toiletries, educational materials and toys that will be handed out to children 
• Presenting livestock to widows of the genocide to improve their diet and establish new businesses and enable survivors to earn a living.

Raising money

I am looking for donations to enable me to purchase gifts and educational materials to take with me. These will be handed out to orphaned children as well as schools whilst I am there. 

I would also like to be able to purchase livestock (a goat or cow) to help support widows in a more sustainable way.

I would also like to cover some of the cost of the trip. However this is what I would do with remaining money rather than the main reason for crowdfunding. 

Thank you

I will not be offering any rewards but I will document my trip extensively on my social media platforms where you will be able to see the huge impact that any donation has made!

I spoke about my PhD research for The Association for the Study of Death and Society as part of their Seminar series on 23rd February 2021.

You can watch the talk back on Figshare here:

https://figshare.com/articles/media/Using_Art_Practice_to_explore_acknowledgement_of_the_unidentified_dead_video_audio_only_presentation_/14096459?file=26578371

I was part of a panel discussion at the CAA Conference 2021 – Biodegradable Art: Towards Regenerative and Circular Systems

“In this session for the CAA Conference, artists and educators using biodegradable materials are invited to present their work and their process. The focus is on artwork made with materials grown in-house or locally, or obtained through waste collection or foraging, that can be composted in personal or municipal facilities.”

The panel was chaired by artist Nichole van Beek and the other artists on the pane were:

Yi Hsuan Sung

Judi Pettite

Maria Whiteman

You can see the whole recorded panel discussion here: