Cat, huge congratulations on your first solo show with us at RAINBOW STUDIOS. How are you feeling now that 'Double Bounce' has officially opened?

Thank you! I’m equally elated and content.

Your exhibition 'Double Bounce' brought such an uplifting, playful energy to our Darlinghurst space. Can you tell us what this body of work is all about?

Double Bounce is my very first solo exhibition and my biggest body work to date. Naturally, I was really nervous but also excited. Over the years, I’ve noticed how driven I get by pressure and fear and the importance of these feelings in the development of my creative work. I thought back to when I first felt this uncomfortable feeling and it took me back to being a child, playing on my neighbour’s trampoline and being double bounced for the first time. It was terrifying at first but then I kept asking her to do it again and to bounce me higher. 

I really liked how this fearful emotion was tied to a memory so freeing and joyful. So I wanted to represent this liminal state of feeling both heavy and weightless, scared and excited in the paintings. 

What’s next for you and your art practice this year? Any new ideas or projects in the works?

What’s something you love most about being an artist?

I’ll be doing a lot of travelling this year and I can’t wait to discover new cultures, art, design, interiors and landscapes. Though there were intense moments producing Double Bounce, I’m very happy with how it turned out and feel inspired to paint more than ever. 

The thing I love most about being an artist is the ability to set my own challenges, with as many or as little rules as I want. Simplicity is important to my work and I love the challenge of giving a minimal composition movement and depth. My favourite part is getting completely immersed in a concept and seeing the studio slowly get taken over by paintings.

We’d love to hear a bit more about your story, how did your journey into art begin?

I was lucky to grow up in an artistic household with an artist/musician father and a meticulous mother who always encouraged my imagination. I loved art and excelled in the subject during school but when I got to university, I decided to explore design and graduated from UNSW’s College of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Design. Working in this field taught me about form and function and has exposed me to so many inspiring materials, colours and textures. 

I started my art practice in 2020. I got COVID at the very start - before anyone knew much about it - and was kept inside for a long time. I lived alone and decided it was a good time to pick up painting again and to see where it goes. It went somewhere good. 

What does 'Double Bounce' mean to you, both as a title and a feeling?

Double Bounce is about finding joy in moments of displacement. I chose to develop this through a nostalgic lens, the memory of being on a trampoline to be exact, to explore the exchange between tension and space. 

And finally, if you had to describe the RAINBOW STUDIOS community in three words, what would they be?

Positive, creative, imaginative 💛 💛 💛