Laddered Tights
2022. Patinaed copper and heat shrink tube.

This work was made to explore the notion of ‘Crafted Chaos’, a deliberate departure from Katherine’s usual highly symmetrical style. Katherine adopts a chainmail technique which she often crafts into lace-like patterned structures to create jewellery and sculpture. These works explore what it means to combine the gendered materials of armour and lace in a rebellion against restrictive binary gender categories.

However, with “Laddered Tights” Katherine sought to untether from the rules of she found herself subconsciously applying in her own practice, instead treading the limits of legible patterns and how sparsely her technical method can be applied. This approach is the result of research into standards of beauty and the role of asymmetry in aesthetic pleasure and craft process.

The name “Laddered Tights” symbolises a kind of imperfect femininity, continuing Katherine’s exploration of gender identity, and reflects the balance of visual order and chaos which Katherine has embraced in this work.