Bridget Catchpole
I seek the inimitable. Weathered. Cast aside. High on the tide line are the gems I collect. Simultaneously thrilled and saddened by what I find. Liberated from the churning ocean and sun’s harsh rays, remnants of manufactured debris become my objet trouvé. My impetus for creation.
photo credit: Scott Smith
more Than Diamonds and Pearls…
my work in jewellery taught me a deep respect for the preciousness of fine craft objects and the materials used to make them.
but what about materials considered as having no worth? or found objects, such as driftwood, buoys, or plastic pollution?
from my artistic practice, i have learned that true value is expressed in our relationships to nature, to each other, and to our stories.
when i create, i am reviving or retelling a relationship of value. to me, this is what makes it precious.
stages of healing
Stages of Healing is my creation of cylindrically shaped “Anthropocene Era” core samples made by combining different plastics with tinted eco-resin. These fake core samples are my primary material for further meta-use in statement pieces about the need for changes in mass production and consumption.
Image: Bridget Catchpole
Stages of Healing Core Sample Neckpiece, private commission, 2023.
Strange Evolution
My work grew beyond adornments on the body and into the room as sculptural forms. I wanted to exhibit my sculptural work while utilizing my craft as a jeweller, so I started playing with proportion and making pieces into what I call my “Wall Jewellery”.
These sculptural works depict a simulacrum of thriving imaginary ecosystems made of single use and empty beauty product packaging attached to plastic buoys or vintage glass floats.
Image: Bridget Catchpole
Buoyant Wall Sculpture, private collection, 2019.
washed ashore… with love
My work included the broader scope of post-consumer plastics, specifically plastic marine debris along the Pacific Rim coastline on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Largely in response to the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, I titled a group of collections, Washed Ashore… With Love.
Photo credit: Anthony McLean
Image: Bridget Catchpole
“Dear, What Have You Done With Nana’s Pearls?” Necklace, Montreal Fine Arts Museum Collection, 2016.
mining under the kitchen sink
I initially researched using post-consumer plastics in my work after watching a CBC Doc Zone episode “Forever Plastic” (2009).
The question about plastics — what to do with the material of a thousand uses that doesn’t go away? — has held a meaningful place in my practice. From this question, I explored the personal, social, and environmental values of worth and waste as a fine craft and sculpture artist.
Photo credit: Anthony McLean
Image: Bridget Catchpole
Necklace detail, 2009.
“There is a special agility in the process of Contemporary Art Jeweller Bridget Catchpole. She flows between, and knits together, the diverse practices of material exploration, environmental activism, and personal transformation. Any one of these alone could produce successful artworks; in combination, they result in deeply meaningful pieces that can be appreciated in aesthetic, personal and socio-environmental contexts.””
Photo credit: Anthony McLean
Image: Flawless Flawful Triptych Brooches, 2010.
“I use plastic pollution materials to speak about the layers of trauma that embody the human condition and point to the survival of diversity on earth”
