Katherine Boland was born in the United Kingdom and immigrated to Australia at the age of four where she grew up on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria. She has been a professional artist since 2001 during which time she has exhibited extensively throughout Australia. She lived for over two decades on the Eastern seaboard of Australia and has a long association with fire, timber and the landscape.
Fire and the duality of its role as a destructive force or useful servant is part of life in Australia; its unpredictable presence is burnt into the Australian psyche. Many winters were spent clearing land by hand, barking eucalyptus trees to be used in buildings and fences and ‘burning off’ the bush to prevent deadly bushfires in the summer. Katherine also has a strong interest in Buddhist philosophy in which fire is used to symbolize purification and impermanence - themes that consistently inform her work.
In the wake of the bushfires, Katherine was selected to participate in OUTPUT- Art After Fire - a pilot project supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through their Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program which assisted artists in southeast Australia and the American west to create artwork about their bushfire experiences. More recently, her climate change-related artwork has featured in a number of international art exhibitions including the Art Speaks Out exhibition at the 2022 United Nations Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.
Katherine has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and overseas and has been the recipient of numerous art prizes and grants, including the Heysen Art Prize for Interpretation of Place in 2009. Her work is held in corporate, public and private collections in Australia, Europe, Asia and the USA and her memoir, Hippy Days, Arabian Nights, was published by Australian publisher, Wild Dingo Press in 2017. Katherine holds a Graduate Diploma in Therapeutic Arts from the Melbourne Institute of Experiential and Creative Art Therapies (MIECAT).
Katherine Boland lives on the south east coast of Australia. Her art practice is inspired and informed by the natural environment in which she lives and by her experience of and response to her surroundings while undertaking studio residencies in natural environments around the world.
Incorporating non-traditional media and processes in her work, Katherine seeks to distil classical interpretations of the beauty of the natural world in an organic, abstract space. She often begins the act of mark making by subjecting the surfaces of her large timber panels to the transformative power of flame; using fire itself as a drawing medium. Processes of inscribing and staining serve to capture the textures and colours of natural forms. Layers of wood stain, Japan black and liming solution are stripped back and more layers applied until a lustrous depth is achieved.
Rather than present a factual reality or reference recognisable forms, Katherine investigates the dynamics of landscape and fabricates an illusion in which meaning is shifted and interpretation becomes multifaceted. Her works are emotional landscapes, aimed to sweep you in, to entice you to forgo worldly material concerns; to be quiet and contemplate a state of being.
Much of Katherine's work explores her lifelong relationship with fire (On Fire I & II series)—a relationship which came into sharp focus in 2002 when a fatal fire sparked the end of her marriage and which continues to this day as bushfires rage out of control across her country.
Katherine's life has also been influenced by the distant and ethereal horizon and all it represents. In her Horizons series, she blends memories from her childhood—two epic ocean voyages (from England to Australia and back again) and her life in the family home on the Gippsland Lakes, with her adult life living by Port Phillip Bay and the years she spent looking out to sea from a ridgetop on her coastal property at Tathra. Although Katherine interprets elements of the landscape quite boldly, the intangible and illusory underpins the work with a fragile, elusive quality. "At first seeming almost coolly rational with its long perspectives and strong structure, this work speaks of both the universality of the horizon and this artist's regular and ongoing engagement with it." Susan McCulloch OAM,
In her Shape of Things to Come series, Katherine gives physicality to the Buddhist/abstract concept of impermanence and change .Juxtaposed textures, surfaces and precisely placed planes of colour resemble cross-sections of the Earth's crust, alluding to the eternally shifting, converging and diverging seismic forces that shape the planet. The Ad Infinitum series speaks to another Buddhist concept—that of 'beginningless time'.
Katherine has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and overseas and has been the recipient of numerous art prizes and grants, including the Heysen Art Prize for Interpretation of Place in 2009. Her work is included in corporate, public and private collections in Australia, Europe, Asia and the USA.
CV
1957 Born, Lancashire, England
1961 Immigrated to Australia
1990-91 Certificate of Colour & Design, Bega TAFE, Bega New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2016 Advanced Diploma in Therapeutic Arts in Counselling, Chisholm Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2017 Published Hippy Days, Arabian Nights - A Memoir, Wild Dingo Press, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2019 Graduate Diploma in Therapeutic Arts Practice, MIECAT, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Art Speaks Out, Finalist, IKONO TV, screened during COP28 United Nations Climate Conference, DUBAI
2023 East Gippsland Small Art Prize, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Bairnsdale, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2023 Collabor8Women, Ellipse Gallery, Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2023 Kinship with Birds in Flight and Plight, Online Exhibition, Women Eco Artists Dialog, California, USA
2023 Works on Paper, Manyung Gallery, Mount Eliza, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2023 Mission to Seafarers Maritime Art Prize, Finalist, Docklands, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2023 Central Desert Digital Art Prize, Finalist, Raft Artspace, Mparntwe, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, AUSTRALIA
2023 Forage, Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2023 WAMA Art Prize, Finalist, Ararat Gallery TAMA, Ararat, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2023 Environmental Art & Design Award, Finalist, Manly Art Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2023 Open Field Arts Festival, Berry, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2023 Lethbridge 2000 Small Scale Art Prize, Finalist, Salon des Refuses, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2023 Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Finalist (Salon des Refuses) Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2023 Earth Mother, Finalist, Online Exhibition, Envision Arts, Dallas, Texas, USA
2022 The Power of Empathy, Finalist, Online Exhibition, Women Eco Artist's Dialog, San Francisco, California, USA
2022 Art Speaks Out, Finalist, IKONO TV, COP27 United Nations Climate Conference, Sharm-el Sheik, EGYPT
2022 Meroogal Women's Art Prize, Finalist, Sydney Living Museums, Nowra, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2022 Tree, Urban Forest Project Exhibition, Forty-five Downstairs Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2022 Environmental Art & Design Award, Finalist, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2022 Art for Climate Change, Planet Earth Channel, IKONO TV, Berlin, GERMANY
2022 ICONS Billboard Display, DigitalArt4Climate, Tokyo, JAPAN
2022 ICONS Billboard Display, DigitalArt4Climate, Toronto, CANADA
2022 Mandorla Art Award, Finalist, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA
2022 Fire, Climarte Gallery, Richmond, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2022 Planet Recovery Project Exhibition, Finalist, Labyrinth Gallery, UK
2022 Women See Change, Visual Petition, Parliament House, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, AUSTRALIA
2022 The Next, Online Exhibition, Li Tang Gallery, New York, USA
2022 Platforme Planet Earth, Online Exhibition, Finalist, New York, USA
2021 DigitalArt4Climate Art Competition, Finalist, COP26 United Nations Climate Conference, Glasgow, UK
2021 Environmental Art and Design Prize, Finalist, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2021 Waverley Art Prize, Finalist, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2021 Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Prize, Finalist, Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2021 Manyung Gallery, Malvern, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2021 Milburn Art Prize, Finalist, Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2021 Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Finalist (Salon des Refuses) Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2020 NOW Contemporary Art Prize, Finalist, Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2016 Beth Hume Gallery, Fitzroy, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2013 Form Studio and Gallery, Queanbeyan, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2012 Redland Art Awards, Finalist, Cleveland, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
2012 Covering Ground, Dark Horse Experiment Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2011 Izmir Biennale, Izmir, TURKEY
2011 La Verne University, Los Angeles, USA
2011 Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA
2011 Wilson Street Gallery at Danks St, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2010 BMGart, Adelaide, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
2010 Limestone Coast Art Prize, Finalist, Keith, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
2007 Corangamarah Art Prize, Finalist,Otway Estate Winery, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Where There's Still Life, Manyung Gallery, Malvern, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2022 Renascent, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Eden Cultural Centre, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2020 Full Circle, Online Exhibition, Bega Regional Art Gallery, Bega, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2019 New Work, Ivy Hill Gallery, Wopengo, Bega, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2017 Book Launch, Soho Galleries, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2010 Writing On St Kilda, St Kilda Town Hall Gallery, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2010 Shield Me, Catherine Asquith Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2009 Writing On The Wall, Catherine Asquith Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2008 Writing On The Wall, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA
2008 Horizons II, Catherine Asquith Gallery, Flinders St, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2007 The Shape Of Things To Come, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA
2007 The Shape Of Things To Come, Catherine Asquith Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2006 Near & Far, Soho Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2006 Campagna, Artefact, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2005 Horizons, Soho Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2005 It’s Not Just Black & White, Artefact @ Gallery 101,Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2004 In Her View, Artefact, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2003 On Fire, Artefact, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2002 Lineage, Soho Galleries, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2001 Fields of Bliss, Soho Galleries, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2000 Oceanic, Bulle Galleries, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2000 Landmarks, Soho Galleries Leichhardt, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
1998 Fragments, Old Bank Gallery, Pambula, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
1996 I Above, Narek Gallery, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, AUSTRALIA
1995 New Work, Hidden Valley Art Gallery, Bodalla, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
1993 Supra Natural, Gorman House Arts Centre, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, AUSTRALIA
Awards
2023 National Capital Art Prize, Winner, Sustainability Category, Canberra, ACT, AUSTRALIA
2023 International Photography Awards, Official Selection, AI Generated Images Category, Los Angeles, California, USA
2023 Australasia's Emerging Photographers Award, Highly Commended, ART category Capture Magazine, AUSTRALIA
2023 Reimagine Art Prize, People's Choice Award, Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
2023 Photographer of the Year, Highly Commended, Creative Category, Australian Photography Magazine, AUSTRALIA
2022 The Heat Is On, Winner, Burrinja Climate Change Biennale, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
2022 Australasia's Emerging Photographers Award, Top 10 finalist, Art Category, Capture Magazine
2022 Photographer of the Year 2021, Highly Commended, Australian Photography Magazine, AUSTRALIA
2009 Heysen Art Prize, Winner, Hahndorf Art Academy, Hahndorf, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
2000 Bega Valley Art Awards, Major Award – Acquisitive, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
1999 Bega Valley Art Awards, Major Award – Acquisitive, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Bega, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
1997 Bega Valley Art Awards, Best Abstract, Regional Gallery, Bega, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Collections
The White House, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA
Modera Golden Triangle, Denver, Colorado, USA
Quay West Suites Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Phoenician Resort and Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Bellagio Tower Suite, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Kimpton Midtown Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Mandale Heights, SINGAPORE
American Euro Centre, Hangzlon, CHINA
Grand Hyatt, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Marriott, Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Sheraton On The Park, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Chelsea Hotel, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Conrad Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Sheraton Hotel, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Reflections, Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Kirra Surf, Gold Coast, Queensland AUSTRALIA
Q1 Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Crown Casino, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Ministry of Culture Collection, Cairo, EGYPT
South East Centre for Contemporary Art, Permanent Collection, Bega, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Maddocks Collection, Melbourne,Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Doug Menzies Collection, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Western Mining Corporation Collection, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
City of Port Phillip Collection, Melbourne,Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Representation
Manyung Gallery, Melbourne