Annie Cattrell has always immersed herself in experiences that cannot be ‘switched off’, which are in essence 360 degrees, such as climbing mountains or watching brain surgery.
It is the phenomenological observations she makes while in these situations of the place, space, sound, smells etc. that influence the decision making later in her studio. Often outside or in specific specialist environments, she finds this amplifies her awareness, expands thought and transforms sensation into ideas, processes and materials.
She has had dialogues with specialists in neuroscience, meteorology, engineering, psychiatry and the history of science. This cross-disciplinary approach has enabled her to engage with cutting edge research and in depth information in these fields. She is particularly interested in the parallels and connections that can be drawn within similar and opposing approaches in both art and science.
To this end Cattrell has completed residencies such as at The Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the ACE Helen Chadwick Fellowship at Oxford University and at the British School at Rome. In 2022 she will undertake the second part of a Covid postponed RSA residency in the Outer Hebrides. Based at the An Lanntair Gallery in Stornoway, where she will also have a solo exhibition called Source, opening this April.
Cattrell has completed many large-scale permanent public art commissions. Currently she is working to produce as series of artworks for the UCLH and the DRI’s world leading centre for the study and treatment of neurological diseases. This centre, will be housed on Gray’s Inn Road, in London, and will open in 2024.
She has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art since 2000, and has lectured in many art colleges including: Edinburgh School of Art, University of the Arts, University of Ulster and University of Southern Australia. In 2012 she was elected to be a Royal Scottish Academician and Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors.