Mythtaken is a sculptural installment of an ongoing body of work about swamp magic, weaving together comics, costumes, and performance to work with different responses to viewing reality – credulity, skepticism, and the suspension of disbelief. What can’t be found in reality? If it already exists in our minds, what does it take to convince us it is real?

My work deals with myths and how their landscapes project and reflect identities, constructing an image of reality. Images of the mutant are utilized as a canvas to explore the potential of the hybrid flesh. I'm interested in creating a visual dialogue with the landscape by embodying sculptural creatures that both extend and restrain the body.

Comics about anthropomorphic beings and metamorphosis allow me to map out narratives more completely, without having to worry about the constraints of sculpture and live-action (time, space, place, gravity). I use these stories as beacons when I traverse through the physical making of the creature.

There is an extension of the body through the treatment of sculpture and costume as the artifacts of the posthuman. These objects are displayed as evidence of the creature’s existence, and often appear as corporeal vessels (oyster shell, fur skin, presently a sarcophagus). The surfaces are usually embellished with various appliqué, in this case a snakeskin woven from 25,000 glass beads. Soon it will bare marks of its use (dirt, leaves, mould) – accumulated during interactions in the landscape.

Caitlin is currently in her 1styear MFA in Fibres at Concordia University exploring the tension and harmony of sculptures and videos situated in the landscape. She graduated with a BFA from the Alberta College of Art & Design in 2007 and has since been a resident artist at Est-Nord-Est, Struts Gallery, Arts Health North, and Art Shanty Projects.

She has received grants from the Canada Council and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and participated in media programs at Emmedia and the NFB.

caitlinthompson.ca