Please give a warm welcome to Cat Athena Louise!
She is from Auckland, New Zealand originally, and has been living in England for the past 13 years.... yes,
she is a dual citizen!
How exciting!
What
kind of art is your passion?
I’m very eclectic (continually restless and love to change things up often) -- I have noticed that
Photography lights me up, as does the fluid and bright marks only
watercolor can make, and I’m crazy about collage and mixed media too!
How
does it make you feel when you're creating something?
I feel alive and connected to something far greater than myself. I
also experience a sense of peace and timelessness (transcendence)
as I go into the ‘zone’
Describe
your personality in three words.
Sensitive, Instinctual, Passionate
When/how
did you realize your life had to have art in it?
I realised it very early on as a child, and when I was spending all my
lunch
breaks in college in the art room creating fervently, it
became very apparent!
Has
being artistic changed your life or outlook in any way?
Yes, I notice the tiny little details, textures and subtle
nuances around me and I often smile at how things play themselves out, the irony
of how life truly does imitate art. Artists often think they are creating
something outside of themselves, but it’s all self-portraits. All of it. They
are expressing what is inside of themselves. I find it very intimate and
revealing.
Would
you say your entire way of life is creative?
Yes, it feeds into every area of my life. I feel it when I
pick up a camera, arrange items on an altar, strike a stick of incense
alight... the kinds of meals I cook, the bicycle I ride, the crazy way I stack
dishes in Dr.Suess-like piles for washing up, the kind of jewellery I wear.
Whats
your superpower?
Intuition is my superpower. I’ve been told that by too many
people now to ignore.
If
you could hang out with any artist dead or alive who would it be and why?
Oh my goodness, that would be incredible and naturally I’m struggling
to name just one... Pablo Picasso would be a total firecracker to spend time
with -- he has such a wildly eclectic range of styles I could never be bored.
He seemed very self-assured and confident in his approach. I’d also love to
hang out with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and his Die Brücke German Expressionist
friends...I love their wild frenetic mark-making and fauvist colors. I’s be
equally happy hanging with Annie Leibovitz in her studio and learning about her
hyper-honest style of portraiture photography... Or navigating Andy Warhol’s
‘Factory’ amid the film-making, stencil cutting and screen printing. Bliss!
Which
side of the bed do you sleep on? Can you sleep if forced to change sides?
The Left side and yes I do struggle to fall to sleep (at least
for a few nights till I adjust) if I ever have to change sides.
Are
you an introvert or extrovert? How do you feel about that?
I’m a perfect hybrid. I land right down the centre of the
intro/extro spectrum...and that’s very true. I can be extremely zany and wildly
expressive in how I communicate and also incredibly quiet, private and
observant and need to be left alone...it all depends on my mood at the time and
the company I am in as to which way that coin will fall.
Whats your most embarrassing moment?
Oh there have been so many! One that immediately comes to
mind was turning up for a job interview to find the front reception desk
completely unattended, and only a sign on the wall, placed near a switch, saying
‘ring for attention’. Well I could see no bell to ring so clicked the switch
(placed beside the sign) and suddenly..... all the lights in the building went
off! Blimey, talk about instantly getting everyone’s attention...you should
have seen them running out to find out what had happened!
Pick
two celebrities to be your parents...who and why.
I think my inner-artist child would be in perfect company
with Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter as my celebrity parents....I think
creativity and self-expression would be encouraged in every possible way and
from every angle in that household! Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer I reckon
would also be awesome.
If
we all came to your house for dinner what would you make for us?
Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese followed by an Indian rice pudding
flavoured with cardamon pods and rose-water... It’s the rice pudding equivalent
of turkish delight! Incredible.
Those are great answers!
For more of Cat and her artwork please click on the links below:
