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Kathryn Thomas explores our association with light directly in her collection of new starlight paintings where we can lose ourselves in her visions of infinity. In 2006 Kathryn Thomas began her journey away from the clouds and sunsets we were familiar with to explore the ethereal beauty of the Aurora Borealis and in this new series of paintings we see that journey go further as Kathryn begins to explore the infinity of space. It is a natural progression for this talented artist to start to look beyond our skies in search of new inspiration and new sources of light. The challenge in painting these highly complex compositions has bought a reinvigorated approach for her to painting. She wants the viewer to be puzzled as to how they are made and she has developed new techniques so that they will struggle to see her ‘hand' in each one. These paintings demand a lot from the viewer they have a strong and subtle beauty that they do not give away from a first glance, just like looking above and not really seeing anything is there until we give our eyes time to adjust. For those of us who are familiar with Kathryn's paintings we come to this new work with fascination - waiting for what we know will reveal itself. For those seeing her work for the first time and to bring heightened intensity to the works Kathryn has reduced the size of her originals, so you could imagine yourself gazing out of the window of a space shuttle or looking through a telescope. Through this she hopes we may develop an intimacy for a subject so distant from us. We glimpse here her fascination with macrocosm microcosm that has been a thread running through her paintings for the last 20 years. The idea reveals itself through these new starlight paintings. That each of us holds this universe within us so we are not really that far away from it when we gaze upwards. |
On Kathryn's Work In 2006 Kathryn Thomas began her journey away from the clouds and sunsets we were familiar with to explore the ethereal beauty of the Aurora Borealis and in this new series of paintings we see that journey go further as Kathryn begins to explore the infinity of space. It is a natural progression for this talented artist to start to look beyond our skies in search of new inspiration and new sources of light. The challenge in painting these highly complex compositions has bought a reinvigorated approach for her to painting. She wants the viewer to be puzzled as to how they are made and she has developed new techniques so that they will struggle to see her ‘hand' in each one. These paintings demand a lot from the viewer they have a strong and subtle beauty that they do not give away from a first glance, just like looking above and not really seeing anything is there until we give our eyes time to adjust. For those of us who are familiar with Kathryn's paintings we come to this new work with fascination - waiting for what we know will reveal itself. For those seeing her work for the first time and to bring heightened intensity to the works Kathryn has reduced the size of her originals, so you could imagine yourself gazing out of the window of a space shuttle or looking through a telescope. Through this she hopes we may develop an intimacy for a subject so distant from us. We glimpse here her fascination with macrocosm microcosm that has been a thread running through her paintings for the last 20 years. The idea reveals itself through these new starlight paintings. That each of us holds this universe within us so we are not really that far away from it when we gaze upwards. Kathryn Thomas studied Fine Art at the University of the West of England in the mid eighties and has had many solo and group exhibitions she has work in collections worldwide. Sarah Wiseman, Sarah Wiseman Gallery, 2007 |
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| Available Light Kathryn Thomas’ paintings engage the viewer with a power that is enigmatic and intriguing. Her paintings can change each time that you look at them and through these changing images she conjures feelings of atmosphere, emotion, fleeting glimpses of natural beauty, energy and underlying power. It is this underlying power that keeps you coming back for more and seeing something new in every painting she creates. There are few artists that create this visual desire for more, the sensation of being a welcome guest on their visual journey. In the exhibition Available Light we join Kathryn at the beginning of a new phase in her work. Kathryn has been long exploring and researching new elements to take her work to a new level, pushing the visual boundaries beyond the horizon and playing with the scale. The new works will be the first glimpse of Kathryn’s response to her recent visit to Iceland where she experienced the northern lights first hand. She has also been studying the intensity of colour in fire, looking at it atomically, a burning hot sun, shifting levels of colour creating the composition moving against and with each other with no feeling of space or horizon this colour will engulf the viewer. Kathryn has long been deeply engaged with the light and the sky that surrounds us; but now she has begun to look beyond our skies and at the limitless beauty of space. This collection promises to be a very new and exciting invitation into new dimensions of Kathryn Thomas’ work and will undoubtedly be a visually arresting exhibition. Sarah Wiseman, Sarah Wiseman Gallery, 2006 |
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On Kathryn's Work Just as we understand that shifting images in nature enrich our emotional and spiritual perspective, so we seek art that might mirror these feelings. Such art if successful holds a delicate line between the literal and the abstract, between what we see and what we feel. Kathryn expresses a deep understanding of this connection in her work where subtly reveals itself slowly and with purpose. When we look at her art the simple forms are soon fractured by the incidental depth of her brush marks and delicate colour relationships. It is her technical skill, depth of purpose and connectedness to the Romantic Landscape tradition that places Kathryn as the originator to a style of painting that has now spawned many poor and shallow imitations. Andrew Price, Artist and Tutor, 2005 |
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Ad Infinitum Emotive and evocative, Kathryn’s compositions are testimony to Mies van der Rohe’s concept of ‘less is more’. Her effective divisions of the canvas are visually seductive and emotionally arresting. On the surface the paint has that rare quality of appearing delicious, edible, moist and almost suspended on the surface, giving the impression of always being fresh and alive. It takes courage to tackle the majesty of the meeting of the sky and the ocean, our last two great unknowns. For these to meet in a single line that becomes a focal point makes for an extremely powerful image. Kathryn’s paintings transform this power into images that become challenging thinking spaces for us all. As always when confronted by the enormity of natural wonders we realise how insignificant we are and examine our fragile relationship with the landscape. We all seek out places, niches and spaces where we can evaluate our outlook on things and seek our epiphany. For me, Kathryn’s paintings provide this space. Ultimately they become places to run away to without leaving home. Allyson Austin, Artist, 2004 |