Artist Statement
South African artist, Kathryn Barnard, is a multidisciplinary and contemporary artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. She was raised in Beijing, China, studied Fine Arts at Stellenbosch University (2015) and a BA English & Communication Science at Varsity College (2018). She has worked closely with art galleries, artists and creative agencies throughout her studies and has twelve years experience in the art industry.
Since 2014, she has sold well over 100 artworks, including commission paintings for exclusive and private collectors, local galleries, companies and international clients. Her artworks are valuable investments as she is devoted to her craft. “The Seraphim Lover’s” (2022) is a private series, painted with a ‘never-before-seen’ 24K gold-infused ink medium invented by her years of testing and experimentation; - currently exhibited alongside the likes of Norman Catherine, William Kentridge and Walter Battiss at the Gavin Project Gallery in Central Square Sandton, Johannesburg.
One of her most notable projects was a eighteen by three meter charity mural painting, commissioned by President Manik & the Council of Ukulhas, Maldives (2022) for a children’s playground in the Maldives. The mural receives international recognition and is one example of the growth, contribution and promise of value her work. Since 2022, she has continued to paint murals in South Africa and experiments and creates different and new art mediums.
In her most recent exhibition, entitled “Pareidolia” (2024), Kathryn Barnard innovates the art experience by placing the viewer as the subject; - redefining the boundaries of art and psychology. As a new approach to the art experience, Pareidolia highlights how art can be a conduit for growing deeper, meaningful connections and with ourselves and others.
2024
EVENTS
& Info
EXHIBITION MEANING
An exhibition on the purpose of establishing pictorial intent; - a response to the question:
“Did the artist deliberately paint the hidden image, or is it merely a perceptual artefact?” (Raquel G. Wilner, 2021).
“Pareidolia” (2024) is an exhibition about you, the viewer. Tell us what you see in these abstract paintings, - as if it were a Rorschach test. While gazing at them, you can choose to share what you see with others, deeper understand your own mind or someone else’s to deepen the connection we have with ourselves and others. This exhibition is a social experience to gain insight into how we all create meaning from “abstract randomness”.
“Para” - meaning: “beyond” and “eidolon” - meaning: “image, form or shape” (Rosen, 2012). Apophenia is the randomised counterpart of Pareidolia. Where pareidolia is the experience of associating meanings or signs to “support ones own beliefs”, Apophenia sees patterns as meaningful. This exhibition explores this concept through fine art techniques and principles such as shape, balance and colour. The work explores the concept of unique interpretation and gives a voice to the viewer’s ability to signify one’s own imagination.
In his articles, Leonardo Da Vinci considers the experience of Pareidolia; as the “tendency to find patterns in random stimuli” (Wilner, 2021). The Pareidolia exhibition brings awareness to our making sense of chaos or finding meaning through ones own abstract life experiences.
“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are” - Talmuidic Proverb.