Kate Milsom SWA

Figurative | Contemporary | Oil | Mixed Media | Collage

“I’m infinitely fascinated by how society works and what rules we often unconsciously and unquestioningly abide to live by. I’m constantly wondering “Where do I fit in?” and subsequently “Where do you?” and ultimately “Are we all sitting comfortably?”

Encouraged to pursue her painting career by fellow artists, gallery owners and friends Elizabeth Organ and Eugene Fisk, Kate took a studio in Venice for 3 months in 2006 where she developed her current practice of mixed media ‘femmage’ utilising the abundance of cast-off museum guides and maps that formed the daily floor-carpet of the city. Transposing these into a travel diary of sorts became an archival endeavour as much as an aesthetic engagement.

Since this time her practice has developed. As we increasingly move toward a “paperless” culture beholden to digital forms another transposition has taken place within the work, in that the ‘collage’ elements are now sourced from ‘throw-away’ images on the internet, released from their pixels and returned to a version of their original form. The anomalous combination of the traditional and digital stages of the production echo the slightly unsettling compositions and subject matter – from the mixture of painted and collaged elements ‘intricate scenes of social malfunction’ evolve.

“rich, detailed and beautiful work of visual storytelling”
Artist & Illustrator magazine

AWARDS
Society of Women Artists Special Fine Art Award
the Princess Michael of Kent Award