Katy Doncaster is a contemporary artist living and working in the English Midlands. She has a background in both science and art and finds that the two complement each other. Katy has worked in community arts and education for many years and also collaborates with other artists to create public art installations. Her work attempts to capture the emotion and spirit of wild places, be they forests, coasts, or abandoned places.
"These unpredictabilities give life and meaning to each piece; each takes you to the wildwood, that fragrant, living place."
The talismans are hand-cast impressions in pewter, a delicate and unpredictable process, the soft impressions hardening but remaining very delicate, often destroyed by the casting process, allowing just a single piece to be made. The resulting objects are unique, showing the textures, imperfections, and quirks of the leaf, seed, gall, twig, or root user, and of the casting process.
Growing up, Katy spent a lot of time outdoors in nature and was always making things from what she found. The natural world has been her creative inspiration ever since, and her work strives to tangibly connect the viewer with nature, to give solace and connection with nature’s wildness. Having time to develop new work has to be balanced against her other projects with communities and schools, so Katy spends intensive periods of work in specific locations, including the Scottish Borders, and the North Yorkshire Moors and coast.
Over time, her practice has developed more direct connections with place, using materials and ephemera from specific locations to create signature pieces of jewelry, talismans, prints, and mixed-media installations. She believes that art should be able to speak to the viewer/wearer in such a way that they can re-connect and ground themselves with nature.