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Artist Feature


Cassidy McCauley

A digital fever dream

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Cassidy McCauley’s virtual exhibition Darling Demons is a digital fever dream—raw, visceral, and achingly tender. It’s less like an art show and more like stumbling into someone else’s subconscious: fragmented, but so deliberate you know it’s been carefully arranged just for you.

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Thematically, McCauley’s work is steeped in trauma and healing, but she handles it with such care. The pieces are deeply personal—you can feel that—but they don’t feel claustrophobic. Instead, they open outwards, inviting you to see your own reflections in them. It’s like she’s built a map of pain and resilience, and you’re invited to trace your own path across it. 

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Visually, the pieces are stunning. They’re layered and textured in ways that demand your attention, almost like they’re daring you to come closer. 

The virtual format adds something extra, too. It’s intimate in a way that’s hard to describe. You’re alone with the work, and you can linger as long as you want without feeling like you’re in someone else’s way. It’s just you and the art, in this shared digital space that somehow feels private. It’s a space for reflection, and McCauley’s pieces hold that space for you, gently but firmly.

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Exploring memory, identity, and emotion through the colour blue, this coming together of the work is profound in achieving a delicate yet bold balance. McCauley’s handling of these themes feels like an act of trust—trusting the audience to engage without pretence and trusting the art to do the heavy lifting. Her pieces feel like an unfolding conversation, where the viewer’s interpretation is just as valid as the artist’s intention. That openness makes the work feel alive, shifting as you bring your own memories and emotions to the table.

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What McCauley describes as the heart of the exhibition is a series inspired by childhood photographs. Often a time of freedom and naivety, a reference to this moment feels incredibly vulnerable and further invites us into the world of the artist. These snapshots, rendered in delicate washes of colour and texture, aren’t just nostalgic—they’re alive with the complexity of revisiting the past. They explore how memory evolves, becoming layered with longing, regret, and gratitude. In Back to Blue, the interplay between light and shadow mirrors this complexity, as if the works are caught in the act of remembering. All of the paintings in this series choose only to depict female figures and the only time you see male figures is at a distance. 

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"Balance" serves as a deeply personal reflection for McCauley, reconnecting her to her childhood in Japan. This sense of nostalgia is embedded not only in the themes of the work but also in her everyday life—she still treasures her blue and white Sometsuke dishes in her London apartment, subtle yet powerful relics of her past. Her early years clearly shape her artistic practice, informing both her material choices and conceptual framework.

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The use of blue dominates the series, evoking a distinct sense of melancholy and introspection. This is more than a simple aesthetic choice; it carries emotional weight, immersing viewers in a quiet unease that lingers long after leaving the exhibition. The layering of cyanotype filters and Japanese blue calligraphy ink further deepens this effect, creating a ghostly, almost archival quality that blurs memory with the present.

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McCauley’s approach remains deeply rooted in authenticity, not only in technique but in sentiment. By drawing on traditional Japanese methods while reframing them through a contemporary lens, she challenges the notion of cultural displacement—questioning whether one can ever fully leave behind the places that shape them. The result is a body of work that is at once intimate and universal, steeped in personal history yet resonant with broader themes of identity, nostalgia, and belonging

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Cassidy McCauley’s work is both personal and relatable, showcasing her technical skill and emotional depth. Darling Demons is more than an exhibition—it’s an experience that lingers, inviting reflection without the need for explanation.

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