Catherine Street is an artist whose work consists of layers of experience. In installations her body is often present amongst projections and audio works, drawings and texts, creating an atmosphere that may be sensual, comical or disturbing. Staccato configurations of sound and light create an intensely sensory experience, whilst at the same time the viewer is invited to contemplate the ambiguously layered content of text and speech works. Meditative, precisely spoken audio recordings include vivid evocations of physical sensations, alongside speculations on the artist’s role and motivations. Rigorously performed actions are documented, and at the same time hints of vulnerability or playfulness appear in handwritten notes.
Street pays particular attention to themes of transformation and to the relationship between matter, thought, emotion and sensation. She focuses on bodily experience – the experience of interaction with, on the one hand physical objects and substances, and on the other hand meaning: whether social, political, sexual, spiritual.
Street has recently shown work in the exhibition Artichoke at Cindy Rucker Gallery in New York and in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’ s Now 3 exhibition. Other projects include the solo exhibition Muscle Theory at Glasgow’s Reid Gallery, which incorporated video and sound installation, drawing and live performance. Street has worked with some of Scotland’s major institutions such as CCA Glasgow, GoMA, DCA, The National Galleries of Scotland, and undertaken a number of residencies for example at The Museum of Loss and Renewal in Italy, Hospitalfield and SSW. She has also performed and exhibited further afield for example in Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, New Zealand and USA. Her writing has been published in various editions including Blackbox Manifold, MUCK, the-mass.com and The Burning Sand. A significant part of her practice is dedicated to creative writing, especially through her ongoing collaboration with the poet JL Williams, with whom she has worked since 2012.
Please see the links below for images
Performances
Video
Work on paper
Writing
Installation
Image above: work in progress
Catherine Street 