CV | Kathryn Orton

Kathryn Orton studied Graphic Design at Randwick College of TAFE in the late 70s and worked as a graphic artist for many years. She completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong in 1986, and continued to develop woodcraft, foundry and printmaking skills as well as teaching fine arts and design part-time. In 2004 she gained a Graduate Diploma of Vocational Education and Training. Since 1987 Kathryn has been teaching with TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute and is currently fulltime at the Goulburn Campus.

Kathryn has exhibited widely since 1984. She has had seven solo shows at Legge Gallery, the last one Some time Elsewhere in 2007. Other solo shows include Small Fish in a Big Pond 1994 at Wollongong City Gallery and On the Streets has just been shown at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery in April.

Kathryn has lived close to the sea for about 30 years after growing up in Orange on the Central Tablelands of NSW. She now swims in the sea daily, observing life in and around the water. Recent travels have included other places near the sea, where fishing and port activities add vibrancy to both the community and landscape. The places visited have been on the edges of Australia and focused around the Mediterranean. In 2007 she undertook a residency at the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts on the Greek island of Skopelos. This year Kathryn returns to see Naples and a little of southern Italy.

Two recurring themes are linked in Kathryn’s work for this exhibition. Local architecture and street scenes have been a focus for the last few years. With detailed observation these drawings aim to record places of distinctive character, or where unusual combinations of style and decoration appear in juxtaposition, hinting at the inhabitants who occupy the places. Three dimensional works incorporating fish, which reference the sea, coastal locations and individual lives are revisited.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
1994 Small Fish in a Big Pond Wollongong City Gallery
1996 A Tea Party Legge Gallery
2001 About Town Legge Gallery
2003 Let Them Eat Cake Legge Gallery
2007 Some time Elsewhere Legge Gallery
2009 On the Streets Goulburn Regional Art Gallery

Selected Group Exhibitions
1986 NSW Travelling Art Scholarship Exhibition Blaxland Gallery
1987 Sulman Art Gallery of NSW
1996 Six by Six Orange Regional Gallery
2001 Six by Six Wollongong City Gallery
2002,03 Shell Fremantle Print Award Fremantle Arts Centre
2003 Portia Geach Memorial Award S H Ervin Gallery
2006,07 Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW
2008 Searching for Asphodels: Artists in the Mediterranean Art Gallery of NSW Research Library
2008 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award Grafton Regional Gallery

Collections
Art Gallery of NSW Research Library, Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, University of Wollongong Permanent Collection, University of Wollongong Union Collection, Wollongong City Gallery and private collections throughout Australia.

Book: Olwen Twelve Pockets 1993 A children’s book written by Fiona McKay & illustrated by Kathryn Orton