Catherine McCaw-Aldworth

I took this piece to our first year London show and it went really well, the install took a full day and there were lots of bumps in the road but I got there eventually and I am really happy with the work I produced. This piece was also an experiment for the self-initiated project. I think that I will focus more on the wax elements but this was a good attempt at something different and I really enjoyed making it! I raided the wood bin in the workshop of all the wood blocks and bought a new bottle of mod podge to start transferring the images onto the wood. Originally, I was going to use photos of models and their bodies but it has resulted quite difficult to find models willing to be completely nude, so I decided to use my own body.   The blocks will be displayed on the floor in almost a scale model of a city. Like a sort of 3D map. This brings in more social and economic viewpoints into the work that can relate to the body in a few different ways.

We finally got a self initiaited brief and I am so excited to get started on this and have more freedom to explore what I want to. Straight away I knew that I want to work with the body, specifically the female form. After reading about Donna Haraway and her work it has really influenced me and got me thinking more about woman’s roles today and about reproduction also, so I think that these may be some interesting things to pursue. I had to make the body out of clay first and then we would do a 2-part mould out of plaster. I spent about 2-3 hours and made the body out of clay, I based it off of a recent life drawing that I have done of a woman laying down. I decided not to add arms, feet or a head to the piece and to keep it quite Greek statue style instead. I then got small pieces of acetate to create a barrier in the half way mark of the body, or the horizon line. This is to make sure the plaster doesn’t stick together when pulling it apart. I found it quite difficult not to ge...