MATERIAL ALCHEMY, an exhibition by mixed media artist Sarah Cathers, opens at Craft NI Gallery on February 5th, Late Night Art!

The exhibition celebrates the process of fostering curiosity and indulging in play. Intrigued by the parallels connecting the work of an artist and an alchemist, Sarah explores the art of transformation; documenting the journey of finding a curious object, experimenting with its properties and potential, and working towards a ‘eureka!’ moment.

Alchemy is the process of converting base metals into gold. Similarly, Sarah works with seemingly worthless, discarded materials, altering them to create treasured artefacts.

“A naturally curious collector, I mend and combine matter, assembling small sculptures, juxtaposing the unlikely to create a tangible record of the environment and people. I curate objects of intrigue in ‘families’ based on an instinctive response or relationship between materials. Fascinated by adhesives and their ability to secure and fasten, I focus on the binding capabilities of thread, using fibres to document and repair. I aim to preserve an object’s history, acknowledging the past while recognising new potential. Like an alchemist, I indulge in the process of measuring out and combining different quantities of substances, in the hope of striking gold.”

In this exhibition, Sarah explores a range of responses to found objects, celebrating the instinctive creative process that can (if lucky) yield exciting reactions and unexpected results for the alchemist.