KATY McGAHAN
 

​

Artist 

 

filmmaker, sound artist, writer, curator

​

​​Against the spectre of climate breakdown, I am drawn to making works

that explore the tension between our deep connection with the rest of the living world and our simultaneous involvement in the destruction of it - in this time of great environmental flux. I am interested in making works that convey both the fragility and the resilience of nature, and re-evaluating our place within it.
 

My practice is multi-discinplinary, encompassing filmmaking, audio works, poetry, photography, working with found natural objects, activism and participatory art.  In 2022 I completed the two-year MFA in Creative Documentary Practice at University College London (UCL) which gave me the opportunity to develop my filmmaking and audio practice. My graduation film, The Happy Man Tree (2022), has been shown in festivals in the UK and internationally.  It was selected to screen as part of the UK-wide Green Screen Network, an initiative on the part of Picturehouse cinemas to encourage cinemas across the UK to screen more environmental films. 

I am one of the founding members of the NoticeThisTree art-for-action group who have been organising participatory art/activist/performance interventions in towns and cities across the UK since 2023.​

​

For me it all usually starts with a walk - around a town or city or in the countryside. My encounters with natural landmarks and the people I meet along with way always inspires me. I've always gone on walks, ever since I was a kid. Walks often help me to formulate an idea.... the soul moves at 3mph....

​​​

I run short courses in radical filmmaking and experimental audio under

the banner of Hyenas in Petticoats. 

​

I was Curator of Independent Documentary at the BFI National Archive (2001-2016) and continue to work as a film researcher, writer and curator

in a freelance capacity for various organisations including the BFI and the Open University. 

​​​

​I live in the High Peak, Derbyshire

I have dual British/Irish citizenship​

​​

Instagram: @katy.mcgahan

​

​

​