Katie Thomas

Katie Thomas shapes paint into intricate skeins of lines. Without focal points or a hierarchy of elements her work could be described as all-over paintings – in which every part of the surface is equally significant. Painted paths loop and meander, rise and fall rhythmically across each surface. The pieces are multifaceted, texturally varied and rich. Washy or stippled earth-toned watercolours abut pale, thick drifts of oil paint. These contrasting painted layers weave in and out of view, at times fully exposed, at others, veiled or interrupted by competing elements. Illusory contours appear in these intervening spaces as we cannot help but extrapolate what might exist in the gaps. As a result, the compositions thrum and churn. Thomas has artworks in the collections of the Wallace Arts Trust and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.