Catherine McColgan utilises an interdisciplinary practice of Art and Science to tackle larger philosophical questions regarding the potential ethical implications of a contemporary Bio art practice. She employs a microbial perspective to investigate the symbiotic relationships that underpin our existence and what it means to be human. McColgan examines human cells using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to present an unrecognisable image of the microbial human form to her audience, showcasing the power of scale in abstraction. By researching art, science, and philosophy as a basis for producing work, McColgan probes the human psyche. She explores how we perceive ourselves as a singular organism despite being a varied ecosystem of human and microbial cells working together.
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McColgan’s artistic practice is multimedia, comprising drawings, paintings, screenprints, petri dishes, clay, and bioplastic sculptures. Her work employs microbial imagery drawn on paper, creating the SEM series, which serves as a recurring motif that explores a range of processes, experimentation, and methodology. The methods she tests may be scientific, artistic or a hybrid of both (e.g., painting onto Petri dishes to cultivate samples). She is selective about which artistic processes she uses to examine her microbial motif, often choosing those that mimic the processes of her subject matter. For example, McColgan produced a series of screen-prints based on mitosis, allowing the artist to duplicate the imagery and build complex overlaid images, much like how cells amalgamate to create large, multisystem organisms.

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Mccolgan is currently enrolled in Central Saint Martin's Art and Science Masters course where she will develop and explore her interdisciplinary practice further, graduating in 2027.