Deep Skies

There is a magical deep blackness in the ocean that mirrors some of the more phantasmagorical moments in life. Ambient floating, beautiful distractions, personal despair, endlessness, spatial illusions, heightened senses and the feeling of being intensely connected to the great unknown.

I started making these landscapes during artist residencies at the Sou’Wester Lodge and Vintage Trailer Park in Seaview Washington. While there, I walk along the ocean and hike the cliffs of the peninsula to look, and be, and stare, and look before I come back to work. This ongoing series is an exploration of the dramatic mood and wondrous sensations I notice in the nocturnal landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Drawings

I love to draw the world around me, not only to hone my craft, but also to investigate, record and experience the particular place. When I am not working from direct observation, my imagery often deals with strong personalities in a “slice of life” environment with a touch of fantasy. As if Norman Rockwell, Raymond Pettibon and Lisa Frank all collided together. I am obsessed with the ocean and mermaids. I love critical discussion around the role of our fantasies/daydreams and how they affect our everyday emotions, and life goals. I often mix the pretty stuff with the frustrating ugly parts of life because that’s how life really is.

Limited Editions

Brought together by punk shows, dance performances and artistic vision, Heather McLaughlin and Kathy MacCrate are now collaborating to create immersive art environments and work on paper. They are excited to see where this journey takes them.

2021 Collaborative Drawings

After a few years of creating art environments together Kathy and Heather found themselves exploring ways to collaborate during the pandemic. The narrative corpse drawing concept came to mind, where one person starts a drawing and others add on, sometimes blind to the previous contributions. Starting with a few blank pages and then exchanging, Kathy and Heather began to build the simultaneous drawings that eventually became the To Summon Again artist publication. Taking inspiration from the 2021 Sou’Wester Art Week theme, To Reconvene, the two artists explored themes of separation vs connection, shifting vs status, and narrative. Progression. The two artists completed about 15 drawings, 9 of which are included in the publication.

Collaboration VI

Dundee Lodge Campout Vol. III Group Art Exhibition

Curated by Brianna Peaslee and Becky Kaye

Collaboration VI consisted of three site-specific pods installed around the grounds of the 2021 Dundee Lodge Campout. For this installation, the work focuses on the narrative of post-isolation and the re-connecting of communities. The environments are dispersed throughout the grounds, creating a thread that connects the singular, yet shared, experience of the participants. The pods, created from hot pink liquid latex fabric with hot pink printed shapes representing eyes to embryos, encouraged the viewer to go inside, explore, relax, and be transported to a color enhanced experience. This work continues to explore the themes Kathy and Heather find central to their projects, commenting on anatomy, space and magic. In addition to the installations, Kathy and Heather created a new collaborative drawing titled River for the festival zine and program.

Collaboration V

We In Wellness Exhibition,
1122 Outdoor Chicken Coop Gallery

Curated by Racheal Jones

When invited by artist and curator Racheal Jones to participate in the We in Wellness exhibition at Gallery 1122 Outdoor, Kathy and Heather were inspired by the Chicken Coop Gallery space to create the intimate Collaboration V. Indigo dyed ropes held by golden plaster hands lead the viewer to look in the nesting boxes, in which miniature archways stared back amongst small lights. Inside of the coop the viewer was transported to a dark and sparkling space with a reflective moon on the ceiling. In addition to the Chicken Coop Gallery, Heather and Kathy also installed Collaboration IV as a sculptural entryway along the bamboo-lined driveway area of the home exhibition space.

Collaboration IV

We In Wellness Exhibition,
Gallery 1122 Outdoor

Curated by Racheal Jones

When invited by artist and curator Racheal Jones to participate in the We in Wellness exhibition at Gallery 1122 Outdoor, Kathy and Heather were inspired by the Chicken Coop Gallery space to create the intimate Collaboration V. Indigo dyed ropes held by golden plaster hands lead the viewer to look in the nesting boxes, in which miniature archways stared back amongst small lights. Inside of the coop the viewer was transported to a dark and sparkling space with a reflective moon on the ceiling. In addition to the Chicken Coop Gallery, Heather and Kathy also installed Collaboration IV as a sculptural entryway along the bamboo-lined driveway area of the home exhibition space.

Collaboration III

2021 Sou’Wester Arts Week “To Reconvene”

Collaboration III continues to explore Kathy and Heather’s common themes of anatomy, nature, outer space, magic, and the world beyond. Marine vinyl studded with sparkling grommets distorts the viewers’ experience as they travel through three large archways. Small crystals hang in the tall trees and dense scrubs around the installation as a fire burns one end of the pathway. The environment changes as day turns to night, when it rains or the sun shines. Collaboration III was exhibited as a part of the 2021 Sou’Wester Arts Week, To Reconvene. Accompanying the immersive installation Kathy and Heather created a limited edition publication titled: To Summon Again.Accompanying the immersive installation Kathy and Heather created a limited edition publication titled: To Summon Again.

Collaboration II

2020 Sou’Wester Arts Week

Collaboration II builds on Kathy and Heather’s first interactive installation to create a new experience forSou’Wester Arts Week 2020. In addition to installing the Collaboration I form, the two artists created a small series of take-away prints that read “If my vagina was Mars it would be less of a mystery”. To invite the viewer to interact with the piece, sequin stars and glue were provided so viewers could add to the galactic experience inside the form. A new environment was created around the main form to transform the covered area in which the installation was presented.

Collaboration I

Dundee Lodge Campout Vol II Ideological Art Exhibition

Curated by Brianna Peaslee and Becky Kaye

Understanding the complexities and nuances of sexual, gender, and anatomic identity, Heather and Kathy decided to explore the time-age tradition of vaginal representation in art. To some it represents pain, choice, birth, stimulation, disconnect, ancestry, suffering, mystery, science, life. For these two artists, it represents a subject matter that inspired a new collaboration. Outside, the viewer is welcomed by soft sculptures representing larger-than-life green labias. Once inside the viewer is transported to a cosmic dark space with a grassy floor. This installation was exhibited in 2019 at the Ideological Outsider Art Show, curated by Brianna Peaslee and Becky Kaye at the Dundee Lodge Campout Volume II in Gaston OR