ARTIST IS ALL SETTOSHINE
AN abstract artist from Wicklow town who has worked with Hollywood royalty will showcase her talents at Art Source at the RDS from November 15 to November 17.
Kathrina Shine is a former draughtsperson, actor, set designer and award-winning short film producer who has worked with Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Pierce Brosnan, Brendan Gleeson, and Joanna Lumley.
She received the best short film award at the Belfast Film Festival in 2001 and her productions have been screened at 55 such festivals.
A storyteller and proponent of the impasto technique of painting, Kathrina creates vibrant narratives with knives, inks, strokes, semi-collages, and sometimes a liberal application of paint.
She has created an innovative way to wear her art well, and will display her fashionable work on trendy t-shirts, hoodies, dresses and leggings at Art Source.
The Wicklow town resident returned to painting after shelving it for various careers as an architectural draftsperson, actor, set designer and film producer.
Having fully embraced her artistic talent, she has staged five acclaimed exhibitions and her work can be found in the Office of Public Works (OPW) national collection and private collections around the world.
‘I started off as an architectural draftsperson, but quickly realised that the construction industry in the 1980s was no place for a woman,’ she said.
‘I decided to pursue acting in Scotland and London before returning to Ireland where film making was really taking off. I constantly upskilled on film sets with Screen Training Ireland, learning from very high standard professionals, so I was eventually able to start my own production company with a varied skill set. It was hard. I was a single mother who had to work weeks away and I was only able to do it because of an amazing network of school mums and dads who used to
help by minding and including my children for me.’
It was during those years she worked with Freeman, Kingsley, Brosnan, Gleeson, and Lumley and won the Jury award best short film at the Belfast Film Festival with Petrol Country Blues.
As with her career, her art style is constantly changing and Kathrina has been described by critics as an abstract expressionist.
‘I paint first and then I understand what I have painted. I never know exactly what’s going to come out onto the canvas. What I do is very organic, and I follow my interest rather than anyone’s rules,’ said Kathrina.
‘In my clothing range, I digitise the art and print on the t-shirts and hoodies. Then on other pieces, I stretch the work and tile it as a textile design.
Over 15,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Art Source which feature 200 of the best contemporary Irish and international artists and galleries. It takes place in the RDS from Friday, November 15 to Sunday, November 17.