Please introduce yourself. What initially inspired you become an artist?

My name is Katie McCann and I am an English self-taught artist currently living and working in Berkeley, California. My background is in fashion but after I moved to America in 2000 I started painting as a hobby while I was raising my three sons. The hobby turned into a passion and after having my first open studios, I think I really began to consider a future as a full time artist. Gradually my love of books and paper began to work its way into my art. The paintings became a lot smaller, more detailed and more mixed media in style. Scissors eventually took over from my paintbrush, and in 2009 I started to exhibit my collages in galleries and I had my first solo show. Since then, I have developed my style of collage art and definitely honed my cutting skills.

When did your obsession with Victorian faeries begin? How does your artwork reflect your love of antique imagery?

My obsession with faeries began when I was a child. Visiting my grandparents’ cottage in Wales I can remember seeing the “fairy rings” (the circles of mushrooms), and one of my favourite poems growing up was the Goblin Market by Cristina Rossetti. I have lots of books about faeries and the idea that they exist at the bottom of the garden still fascinates me. Also in 1997, I visited the Victorian Fairy Painting exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and it was really inspiring to see the magical and strange paintings from artists such as Edmund Dulac and Richard Doyle. In my artwork I often try to recreate the feel of an antique print. By cutting from old books and then juxtaposing mismatched images together, I hope to reflect the oddness and often surreal aspect of some of the Victorian art that I love. I also use old and foxed book covers and pages as surfaces for my collages to give the piece an antique effect.

Describe your process for creating one of your collages. What is your main source of inspiration?

I typically work on a series of collages, so once I have an idea I will begin to create several pieces at a time. I collect the images and then I will cut them and finally put them together. My work can get very detailed with a lot of fine cutting. So, one piece can take days to finish. Sometimes it can take me hours just to find the right pair of bird’s legs or the right flower. Tiny pieces of paper cover my table - moths, bones, jewels and eyes - and I will move these pieces around before I find the best composition and before I glue them to the surface. I have many sources of inspiration. It could be a book I am reading, a poem, a film, an episode of Planet Earth or sometimes a piece of fabric. My studio is full of books piled up everywhere. Some I cut up and the others I just use for daily inspiration.

What inspired you to create the ‘Wall Paper Puddings’ series?

This 2022 series was inspired by my memories of English puddings and their names. I also wanted to incorporate my love of the wallpaper designs of William Morris. The two just seemed to go well together. As I often do with my artwork, I only used two colours in these collages. I let the names of the puddings guide me, so for example, the Toffee Pudding was golden and brown, the Jam Roly Poly was red and cream and the Blancmange was pink and white. The puddings were collages of women’s faces and the backgrounds were dense, elaborate Morris inspired patterns. I also hid spoons and forks in the backgrounds.

What are common narratives in your work? Do any of your pieces reflect you as an individual?

Common narratives in my work are magic and whimsy. In my collages, faeries are real, beauty is often strange and the woman and her complex mind are often intertwined with nature and the environment. I also explore the female in some of her many guises such as a witch, a mermaid, a banshee or a bird. I think most of my collages reflect my imagination which is still rooted in my childhood. My collage art is a way of recording these memories and dreams.

Who is your favourite artist? If they were sat next to you right now, what would you ask them? Do they have an influence on your work?

I have a few favourite artists but top of the list are Romare Bearden for his beautiful collages that inspired me to mix up my oil painting with paper and experiment with different images; Charles Altamont Doyle for believing in faeries; Marc Chagall for painting people flying and Giuseppe Arcimboldo for his vegetable, animal and mineral faces. All four of these artists have greatly influenced my art and I return to their work over and over again for inspiration.

Are you currently working on any new and exciting projects?

I am in a Cabinet of Curiosity themed group show coming up in August and I am also working on some new collages inspired by zooplankton.

Why do you think art is important in society?

Art means so many things. For me it is a source of magic and solace but I also recognise that it can be a tool of revolution and protest. The fact that it has so many different guises is why it is important, whether it is in museums, on subway walls, on clothes, in books or in our imagination.

Katie McCann (katiemccannart.com)

ARTIST INTERVIEW: KATIE MCCANN