"How little we know about the soil, dust, algae, lichen, seaweed, gut, seabed, moon, tide, grasses and fungi. Re-connecting and gaining a better understanding of nature is the key for imagining a better future world in which science, art and a heightened awareness of environmentalism intersect to create a new symbiosis.”
Kitty Hillier’s work is rooted in what’s above and below the surface, with a belief that all things are connected. Her paintings and sculptural installations comprise layers of overlapping biomorphic shapes derived from everyday details, made with a diverse range of materials and often painstaking processes of hand-construction that reflect patterns found in nature and the slow formation of structures over time. A space is created for the viewer to be immersed and transported, to pause, contemplate and wonder. Seemingly tranquil, the colours and textures ‘work’, they are calming and harmonious. Yet there is also a sense of tension as abstract forms call to mind littoral zones of the ocean, microscopic particles and strange planetary systems.
Born in London (1984), Hillier grew up in rural Somerset. After completing her Foundation at Falmouth Art School she gained a 1st class honours degree in Fine Art Painting at Bath School of Art in 2007. She won the Reveal Emerging Artist Award in 2009 and was awarded the SAW Abundance Commission in 2013. Most recently, she has been selected as one of three artists to work on researcher and filmmaker Rachael Jones’ project: Moving Landscapes. She lives and works from a studio at Islington Wharf Boatyard, Penryn and her work is held in private and corporate collections internationally.
