Katriona Beales' page

Deeply influenced by a migrant childhood moving between different continents; journeys, ideas of home and questions of how to site identity and situate belonging, continue to underpin much of my work. I currently work with 2D and 3D collage, and use the process of bringing together disparate and initially unrelated elements and weaving them into one, to mirror visual collisions present in globalised spaces.

I has become increasingly interested in the issue of the ‘subject’ in the public eye, and notions of consumption, privacy, vulnerability and exploitation. The cult of celebrity in various forms has been around for millennia, however, the Internet provides a global platform for everyone who wants one. New media feed our insatiable appetite for personal miscellany with constant streams of new revelations at ever accelerating rates. In this information-saturated world, private thoughts can become public headlines overnight, and instantaneous modes of communication can spread local rumours globally. Within the medium of collage I have been examining masks and mask wearing as an attempt to restore a sense of mystery, and explore the importance of the unknown and unfamiliar as a space for the imagination. I propose hiddenness as necessity; a survival tactic; and even something empowering that can reverse power structures. Suddenly the subject can watch you without being seen.

My work poses the question: How much should I give away? And how much should you?
Living in Liverpool, UK, since 2001, I am now based in the Bluecoat (www.thebluecoat.org.uk).