CAITLIN

What activities/art-form did you pick up as a kid that shaped you into the artist you are today? In what way do YOU think it shaped you?

“My mum always encouraged me to pursue my curiosity, creativity and physicality. You’d catch me climbing trees and lampposts, I built dens in the forests, made up songs and games. That love for engaging viscerally with life, the immediacy of interaction and creation has always stayed.

I refused to swim at the local pool until my mum took me to one of the cool ones in Germany with bright colors and immersive aspects with choices of different pools and experiences, she spent a summer teaching me then you couldn’t stop me!  It makes me think about how many people may not know they love something because they’ve never been in the right environment to experience it in a way that resonates for them or brings them joy. The desire to create experiences that make you fall more in love with life, that catalyst more enjoyment and embodiment of living is something I hope to cultivate continuously, consciously and with feverish excitement!

Then there’s the thrill seeking aspect I can’t help but seek out. I remember one summer as a kid getting really into jumping off the 7m board. Terrible landings but I loved the rush and courage it took just to get up there.

I did a lot of ballet and dance at the local school which offered me a lot of opportunities to perform and create through movement, took summer camps at the Citizen Theatre in Glasgow for acting, trained in gymnastics, at seven I did my first local theatre Panto acting with my mum, then she went on to direct the next two. I saw her brain tick as she planned songs, brewing how best to tell the plot and make things even MORE fun and engaging. I was part of the school orchestra playing the clarinet and went to band camp for a few summers. I took extra programs in contemporary dance and choreography with YDance in Glasgow too. And I think because of all this it fuelled a love for creating through multidisciplinary arts, of telling stories, world building and performing things that require intense physicality.

The fact that I could try and train like this from a young age is a huge privilege so as much as these experiences shaped me I really think it’s important to acknowledge the people who helped facilitate this, that act of compassion, witnessing and being the receiver of that has made an enormous impact on me. It’s shown how important it is we continue to do this for others, especially for our new, bright and brilliant young hearts that are just discovering the possibilities of life and their own light. It is a skill to see that light inside someone and then it takes love to make space and welcome that light. And the more we do it the easier it gets - from just listening to your friend’s excitement, to buying a second hand book about taxidermy that your aunt carol was curious about!”

Were you picked on as a child? If so, how? How do you think that affected your life today as an artist?

“Yup! Mostly how I dressed and behaved. It was never particularly consistent though. Just a few kids who I think could spot I was a good person to tease because I’d take things so literally. I remember being able to get along with most people. I hated cliques and tried to avoid them where possible. Most people just thought I was weird. I’m still learning not to take things personally and exploring dressing more how I want. I still behave as weird, if not more now!” 

What daily activity makes you feel most connected to your hands within your Art-form?

“Honestly anything! I notice how things feel, look, and store it in my head. I think about ways to translate them into some other art medium. It could be holding a coffee cup, rubbing my eyes after waking, getting dressed. All those interactions are valuable pieces of information that could be used as inspiration later. Another activity would be writing. I LOVE writing. Doesn’t even need to make sense. In fact, some of my favorite things I’ve written recently are just nonsense. It helps free up my mind and creativity. I always have a pen and paper on me and if I don’t I’ll find something else to use. You can’t wait when inspiration strikes! One day I had an idea for an outfit but only had a receipt and mascara on me so I just drew it with that!” 

What do you appreciate most about how YOUR art makes you feel?

“How alive I feel when I ‘get it’, when I get into a flow state and something comes out really special, whether it’s writing or movement, performance or song. There’s been a few times I look back and I can’t believe I was the person who facilitated the flow of the idea from the ethereal to the physical and I feel proud that it exists because of my participation. Especially when I learn that the work has moved someone or made them feel seen. Last year I created a performance piece about grief and what happens after you lose someone or something very dear to you. A few weeks later someone came up to me and said they lost someone the day before they saw the performance, they didn’t get to say goodbye but they said the piece gave them the space and time to do so. That was very special. I remember seeing a show in my early 20’s, at the time I felt very lost and very lonely. But, because of that show, I felt like I belonged exactly where I was and in that moment I said to myself that’s what I want to give people. Through art, in my own way, I want to make people feel like they belong here, like they matter, because they do.” 

What pushes you to be a better artist today?

“I want to see what I’m capable of. I’m curious to know my limits and expand beyond them. I want to know how big I can go with my dreams.” 

BONUS QUESTIONS.

Do you have any tattoos? If so, which is your favorite and why?

“No but I really want one!”

If you were a food or drink what would you be? Why?

“A GOOSEBERRY!!!! They’re sweet and sour, hard skin, then soft and squishy inside with all of those crunchy seeds! SO MUCH TEXTURE, bright green, a little hairy AND I had the pleasure of the most delightful little girl ask me to pick some with her and her sister when I was staying at their parents airbnb. She was so ecstatic about it, I never met someone who loved gooseberries so much! It was such a joy to behold, I hold that memory close to me. Imagine how much fun we’d all have if we really celebrated the things we love so whole heartedly??”

What GROUNDS you?

“Wild swimming. Every time. Getting into any natural source of water makes me feel at home. Cold water especially.” 

Favorite quote? Why?

“I have so many! At the moment it’s:

“Embarrassment is the tax you pay for your personality.” 

“I don’t want to be taxed for being me! So it’s a reminder to myself to always “challenge my threshold of embarrassment” a little bit each day. Those were said by Professor Ted Michałowski in one of his classes I’ve modelled for in illustration. He’s a life-oholic and always encourages more mischievous-scamp-energy to counter act the complacent and docile tendencies that seem to be creeping in more and more into our society. So much so, I have one book that was supposed to be of poetry but is now full of brilliant bits of wit and wisdom he’s come out with and shared.”

How do you wish others describe you?

“A fabulous flamboyant ferret fuelled with the fire for CREATION! (And a passion for fashion 💁‍♀️)”

What is your favorite thing about yourself?

“My hope.”

What is an object that you cherish from childhood?

“Pasta. PERIOD.”

If you were to speak to your younger artist, what would it be?

“Keep being you. You’re going to hear that a lot from people as a heads up btw. But it’s not the one sided ‘you’ you think they’re talking about, it’s the everything you. Don’t get confused with that.  Let yourself feel it all. Be wild with it, with everything about you. Get things delightfully wrong. Allow yourself to make marvellous mistakes. Then give yourself the grace to try again without shame. Ask for help. Ask questions. Follow that curiosity with the energy of raccoon in a grocery store. You may think that what you’re feeling only you can feel, it’s so overwhelming and intimate and personal right now but many people feel like that too (you're also growing and developing so cut yourself some slack! Those feelings are going to be feeling even bigger right now because your hormones are currently a 3-year-old on an ice slushie come-down at Disney land who’s about to get hangry.) It’s okay you’re a hot mess. Eat some food, sleep and try again tomorrow.”

P.s. You should also try talking to your mum about it, she may not talk about it but she knows more than you think, has felt more than you know and loves you more than you can imagine.”

If you have any advice to the world, what would you say?

“Your creativity matters. That thing you always thought about doing... Stop waiting! Today is the day you take a little bit of action towards it! You’ll never be totally ready anyway so best to just get on with it.”