Catherine McCaw-Aldworth

For the second part of the high and low brief we had to make 6 pieces that expanded on what we had already done in the first half of the project. I decided to focus more on the mind and memory in the second high and low. It was more influential for me as my grandfather is currently suffering with dementia and so it is something that I am trying to understand with my own art practise. There is also theme of identity that can be seen in this project, which I think comes from a fear of the future. Something I wrote in my sketchbook while putting together ideas was ‘the brain is meant t be this amazing piece of the body. Its meant to be powerful and strong and yet it fails us every day. My mind is my own worst enemy, it creates the thoughts and all my insecurities. The brain is the thing that gave my grandfather an amazing life but it is also now a curse that makes him forget his life and me. The mind is a beautiful tool that can create amazing things but the humanity of the brain ...

Contemporary art practice – component two The second brief we were given at university was named High and Low. We were asked to create 15 pieces considering altitude, viewpoint, mood and cultural register. The 15 pieces had to be large scale, no smaller than A1 and they also had to be 2D: drawings, paintings, collage, etc. the idea for these pieces was to reverse logic and also look more in depth to the meaning of it. I took inspiration from many artists and from things that surround me, as well as from my own emotions. I have written brief summaries on each piece and attached a photograph to each one. Angelina Jolie For the first piece I wanted to do something familiar to ease myself into the project, but I also wanted to experiment with new materials. Growing up I took influence from strong female characters in movies, Angelina Jolie is one of these women and even to this day I admire her work and the way she is so open about mental health, physical health and her life i...