Katharine Mac Daid
(She/her)
Address: Bjørka, Schweigaards gate 34 D, 0191 Oslo
Floor: 3
The studio is open Saturday 26 April from 12-17
I was a teenager when I first remember framing a view I was gazing at; imagining how I would contain the scene, where the edges would form the space into a perfect idea. I’m not sure I was aware then as I am now, that this desire to control and know the world around me came from deep within. My surroundings had changed so variously and significantly by the time I was a teenager that I had created a script to explain myself. The contrasting landscapes of light and dark, and the muted greys in between, all overlapped and merged into each other. I came to realise that reality is often messy and disappointing. When you get up close to the world, people are complicated, culture is confusing, and nature is indifferent. An imaginary version of the world is much more appealing, and easier to comprehend. In such a fantasy, beauty can be condensed into something you can hold, and the unease of melancholy becomes seductive. This is what I use photography for, its fundamental power to evoke narrative and atmosphere from and of the real world, while simultaneously creating a fiction. Photography has given me a language to create meaning out of uncertainty, and as a visual artist, I have continued to make work that acknowledges the inherent drama and unease in the ordinary and immediate world.
Photography and moving image
Untitled, from the series, 'When Will We Be Married', Northern Ireland, 2022 - ongoing.
Untitled, from the series, 'When Will We Be Married', Northern Ireland, 2022 - ongoing.
Untitled, from the series, 'When Will We Be Married', Northern Ireland, 2022 - ongoing.
Untitled, from the series, 'When Will We Be Married', Northern Ireland, 2022 - ongoing.
CV
Katharine Mac Daid was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up in the Middle East, America, Northern Ireland, and England. After graduating with a Master’s degree in Photography from the Royal College of Art in London, Katharine moved back to the Sultanate Oman for several years to make the work, which became Calling Shapes, Beckoning Shadows, a confrontation with childhood ghosts. After returning to the UK, she spent time working in Alaska, eventually self-publishing her first artist book, The Fireweed Turns. The Fireweed Turns was launched at the Photographer’s Gallery in London, and was shortlisted for the Photo Wien Book Award, Austria. Katharine is currently working on several long-term bodies of work. Her project from Northern Ireland, The Black Dreams, intersects with her series My Mother, Kate, in which she continues to seek out her Irish identity. Katharine has shown work in exhibitions and festivals in Norway including Vårutstillingen, Høstutstillingen, Østlandsutstillingen, Oslo Fotobokfestival and Oslo Negativ, as well as internationally including Museum Villa Rot, Germany; The Baltic Centre, UK; Arles Festival, France; Palm Springs Festival, USA; Photo Wein, Austria; Braga Festival, Portugal; Ghent Fotofestival, Belgium, Kolga Tbilisi Photo, Georgia; Festival Internazionale di Roma, Italy; Magenta Foundation, Canada; ArtSway, UK; Camden Arts Cork, Ireland and Bait Al Baranda, Sultanate of Oman. Since moving to Norway in 2020 she has received NKF Prosjektstøtte in 2024, Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation Norge in 2023, SKS Diversestipend in 2022 and Norske Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond in 2022.