Personal Statement for 'Everyday' January 2013

Cat Forward is primarily interested in the everyday: the seemingly banal and the overlooked. It is in the everyday that much of life can be found and considering the stuff which constitutes daily routine is to consider what makes a life. The meetings, environments and things around us fill a lifetime.

In her recent work Cat has become increasingly interested in objects: the choice of objects, their treatment, their display and their use make for a fascinating starting point in considering how people construct their lives, their identity. In a recent project, she requested people email pictures of things which are meaningful as a basis for paintings. The results made for some interesting conversations and paintings: people sent things which they loved, which reminded them of what they wanted to do, which they felt they need and which they felt represented an aspect of themselves. It is interesting to consider that despite the alienating nature of much of modern life, people continue to have a very real and human attachment to place and things; stopping to consider these objects can begin a way in which we can perhaps reconsider our everyday surroundings and explore the depth of meaning within the simplest of objects.