CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART GRADUATE DREGREE EXHIBITION 2025  
GRADUATES \\ WORK \\ ABOUT \\
CATHERINE SWEENEY
DEPARTMENT
METALS

 Transformation would only be a dream if I held still waiting for the phenomenon to take me. I stand at the edge of my anvil, hammer in hand as I watch the flames slowly lick across the surface of my steel. Chasing the dull glow, my hammer falls into rhythm across its surface, texture flourishing with the advent of reclamation. Through ironwork I’ve discovered resurgence in the anvil’s knell. I keep hammering. I beat its surface until it’s paper thin and dancing with ripples to the ambient song of my hammer, my hand guiding me to the revelation that this dead material is vibrating with life. My sculptures begin to bloom, meeting both their beginning and their end.

In my pursuit to transform the industrious into the organic, I contemplate what we might learn from the growth process of plants. Working to animate steel, I examine the imprint of nature’s ephemeral embrace through cultural constraints. I explore how my material practice tethers me to the natural world, bridging the gap between the divide separating us. My sculptures, gestures of the soul, function as vessels for the patience and compassion iron has shown me. Captured in a stasis between growth and decay, my installations invite the viewer to stop and contemplate vulnerability in the passage of time. Suspended in this moment, my hand has led me to wonder where compassion might take them in the ecology of my spirit.



Reverie
Forged steel, hammer scale, 21” x 28” x 20” 
Growth Reservoir
Forged steel, rust from evaporated water, 4” x 10” x 10” 
Shadow Reservoir
Forged steel, 30” x 30” x 2.25” 
Engulfment
Forged steel, iron fillings, magnets, 12” x 42” x 2.25”