Street Works - About Street Works - Locations » Kate Mackay Mini Graff About The Cross Art Projects Cross Conversation
	Kate Mackay My art practice has been concerned with the exploration of pattern making and repetition.  I work primarily as a painter, but also use various other medium, such as metal, wool, wood and paper.   The work has become progressively concerned with process, and with random difference within uniformity.  From an initial interest in  'ornamentation', the work has developed into an investigation of the formal aspects of the decorative.  A series of pre-determined ‘rules’ control the creation of each series of works. These rules are then followed through to their logical conclusion.  In this way a complex series of works are created by repeated combinations of simple elements.  Various random decisions are made within the narrow confines of the pre-determined limitations.  By systematically following through the ‘rules’ to their various possible conclusions, unpredictable variations occur. Recent works have concentrated on the multitude of variations that can occur within an increasingly restricted framework.  These works have been concentrating on the repetition of squares and blocks.  Some works have been created by weaving paper strips, which enable an endless array of patterns to be developed.  Other works involve stencilling a single motif repeatedly onto large canvasses, so that the simple grid becomes a textured and many layered accumulation of paint.  Crocheted works have been developed from a reworking of the traditional crocheted square, and wooden blocks have been used as a basis to construct two and three-dimensional works. Kate Mackay 2005 UNTITLED BLOCKS acrylic yarn, fabric, foam, 48cm x 26cm x 13cm, 2005 UNTITLED WALL PIECE acrylic yarn, fabric, foam, dimensions variable, 2005 BIG SQUARE paper, cardboard and PVA glue, 49cm x 49cm, 2004 © 2005