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Katie McCann...

I create paper creatures - hybrids made up of insects, birds, shells, human bones, plants and fashion couture. These grotesque beauties are on display, often pinned to the canvas to be studied and critiqued. I cut from vintage books and I also use my collection of Vogue magazines to create the ‘dresses’ for the specimens. Part science fiction, and part fairy story, my collages represent a menagerie of newly discovered, futuristic creations.

I work with tiny pieces of paper - beetle legs, birds’ feet, scorpions’ pedipalps, butterfly wings and leaves. I combine these elements on a canvas which I treat like the page of a book. Finally, I embellish my 21st century fairies with beads and old lace and then I ‘pin’ them to the canvas.

As a child I was always fascinated with monsters, fairies and the idea of humans with animal features - a man with a bird’s head, a woman with lobster claws or a child with a long tail. I am inspired by Victorian Fairy paintings and by artists like Beatrix Potter, Grandville, a French illustrator whose engravings of strange, mixed creatures were called ‘doublivores’ and also the sketches of Charles Altamont Doyle, where giant birds chase maidens and madams grow beaks.

Recently I have been using up-cycled materials in my work. I have been collaging onto salvaged wood, old boxes and trays, salvaged roof tiles, antique book covers and pages and other found objects. I search for old buttons, ribbons and flowers and when I stumble upon a discarded treasure I take it and turn it into something else. I also use my 'left-over' paper to create paper flowers and wreaths.

Katie lives and works in the beautiful city of Berkeley, California. Katie loves beetles, birds, flowers and all sorts of other curious creatures. Welcome to her world..................