Kate Shaw

Kate Shaw depicts landscapes—primarily of mountain ranges and bodies of water—that seem to shimmer or drip with psychedelic colors. She blends painting and collage to create these fantastical realms, focusing in particular on the effect of reflections. Examples have been shown widely in Australia, particularly in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, where Shaw has received several public art commissions. Nodding to the poured Abstract Expressionist canvases of Helen Frankenthaler, Shaw pours paint and inks directly onto a canvas while seeking out eye-catching shapes from the pool that organically forms. She cuts these out and assembles them into kaleidoscopic landscapes, a process that points to her interest in the tension between creation and destruction. While Shaw’s paintings, with their marbleized effect, are dazzling, their acid-tripped compositions allude to oil spills, radioactive leaks, and other devastating forms of pollution. Shaw also explores these ideas in lenticular lightbox prints and video work.