Sixteen canvases and two painted books exist together, tiles in a mosaic of the artist’s movements through moments and geographies: as a commuter, a passer-by and an intentional observer. Whilst christened with timestamps, in recognition of the photographs McClenaghen habitually snaps whilst in transit, each work makes a considered departure from realistic representation. Side-street façades – corrugated shopfronts, brickwork panels and sun-bleached lace curtains – are expressed in overlap, borrowing each other’s likenesses as if half-remembered.
Filtering faithful representation through the haze of memory, layering acrylics with unconventional and domestic mediums, McClenaghen performs an abstracted contemplation of the spaces she has come to call home. Her Quiet In-Betweens take pause between figuration and abstraction, as palimpsestic records of a world not yet formed but already derelict; of spaces publicly accessible yet not quite knowable.
McClenaghen attributes her vibrant palette to the influence of the Glasgow School of Art, known for its encouragement and mentorship of expressionist and colouristic methods, which her work exemplifies. For this reason, many of the artists she has come to admire either trained at the institution or spent long periods in the city of Glasgow: Joan Eardly and Andrew Cranston bear strong influence. She further credits materialist Robert Rauschenberg in shaping her ever-evolving handling of mixed media.
In the artist’s own words,
"I aim to construct penetrable scenes, environments porous to the immersion of their viewers. I am trying to relate the experience of moving through these spaces, whilst encouraging the formation of new narratives disparate from my own. These paintings draw upon a mixture of memory and observation to create the feeling of a combined cityscape, memoryscape and dreamscape."
Kate McClenaghen (b. 2001, Wrexham, Wales) is a painter and mixed media artist. She graduated from her BA at The Glasgow School of Art in 2023 where she was presented The Glasgow Art Club Award, and most recently completed her MA in Painting at The Royal College of Art in 2024 under the Paul Destry Scholarship.
