Kate Atherton is an artist and illustrator whose practice encompasses acrylics, oils, and traditional draftsmanship, seamlessly blending these mediums with mixed-media techniques.
. She studied Critical Fine Art at Brighton University and earned a Distinction in Mixed Media Art from Cricklade College.Living and exhibiting in Hong Kong shaped her global outlook. Now based in Zurich, she teaches, exhibits, and engages with the local art scene. Her canvases are both personal narratives and symbolic journeys, windows into the landscapes of memory, emotion, and imagination. At the heart of her work lies self-portraiture; much like Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh, she often uses self-portraiture as a starting point, creating personal, symbolic journeys across the canvas that serve as a gateway to explore identity and perception.
Each painting is an attempt to render what it feels like to inhabit her headspace to map the invisible currents of thought, emotion, and memory. Her brushwork is a central part of this exploration. Each stroke is a bold, rapid, and intentional swaths of paint that seem to pour directly from her hand to the canvas, capturing the restless flow of her thoughts and the energy of an active inner life.
Vivid hues collide with delicate lines, and swathes of shimmering gold leaf lend a spiritual, almost otherworldly glow. Gold leaf in her work serves a deeper purpose than surface beauty. It references gilding traditions and kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold. By using gold leaf, Kate hints at transformation: the idea that fractures, whether emotional or psychological be healed, highlighted, and made beautiful. Gilded lines glint like cracks filled with precious metal, suggesting that in piecing together our minds and memories, we create something stronger and more luminous.
Many of her figures have their eyes gently closed, evoke feelings, memories, and dreams, and celebrate the journey of navigating the mind’s hidden pathways. This choice invites viewers to turn inward alongside them, evoking introspection and trust in the unseen. Vivid colours collide with delicate lines, while swathes of gold leaf reference gilding and kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending cracks with lacquer mixed with gold, hinting at the beauty found in healing and transformation.
Kate’s paintings evoke feelings, memories, and dreams. They invite viewers to sense the experience of being simultaneously grounded and adrift, caught between reality and imagination, beauty and complexity, calmness and chaos. Through this alchemy of techniques and symbols, she celebrates the universal process of navigating the mind’s hidden pathways, capturing the beauty and tumult of what it’s like to be inside her mind.
Through her art, Atherton invites viewers to step into her world, offering a raw and honest portrayal of life with neurodivergence. Her work offers a raw, honest portrayal of neurodivergence both a reflection of struggle and a celebration of resilience.
