Caitlin Heffernan
My work is inspired by the natural world and the experience of being in and within different natural environments. Mixing real and fictive forms the paintings develop as surreal and psychological landscapes, they are inspired by how we, as human beings, co-exist with the natural world and make imaginative connections with the environment. I take photos of my surroundings and on my travels but also make lots of drawings - often from memory. As I draw, re-imagine, re-draw and re-create landscapes in the paintings, patterning and mark making are ways to share my experience of these places.
I have been researching different ‘underworlds’ and visited a huge cave complex near Tomar, Portugal. I have also been looking at medieval depictions of animals mutating into hybrid forms. I am interested in a world where animals and non-humans have control as a way of re-setting the world and environment, where we as humans can perhaps become more animal.
