Artist Statement
Kathryn Barnard is an ink & multidisciplinary contemporary artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was raised in Beijing, China, and later returned to South Africa where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication Science at Varsity College, Sandton (2018). She also studied Fine Arts at Stellenbosch University (2015–2016) and has over a decade of experience in the visual arts sector, working across independent practice, private commissions, and collaborative creative projects.
Since 2014, Barnard has produced and sold over 100 works, including private commissions for individual collectors, galleries, corporate clients, and international patrons. Her practice includes painting, mural work, and mixed-media experimentation.
In 2022, she completed an 18 square metre mural commissioned by President Manik of Ukulhas, Maldives for their children's playground. The project forms part of her large-scale public art practice. She has since continued to develop mural work for commercial spaces in South Africa including restaurants such as Orexi Sandton and Park Café.
In 2024, Barnard opened Artjamming Sandton, a creative studio and participatory space with the goal of expanding arts and culture in Johannesburg, South Africa; and opening her studio for public creative development and exploration.
Her abstract body of work entitled "Pareidolia" (2024), investigates perception and viewer interpretation, positioning the audience as active participants in image formation. Selected works from this series are currently on consignment at Park Café Sandton, Central Square, Johannesburg.
In 2026, her work "She’s a Fire Andromeda" was selected to form part of a fundraising auction hosted by the Smile Foundation and August House at The Venue, Rosebank, where the artwork was sold in support of raising funds for children in need of reconstructive surgery.
Barnard’s current practice explores material experimentation, including ink and a proprietary gold-infused medium on Perspex, as seen in the series entitled "Seraphim Lovers" (2026) which integrates illustration-based processes with contemporary fine art approaches, inspired by her oriental upbringing.
EVENTS
& Info
Smile Foundation Art Auction.
“She’s A Fire Andromedae” by Kathryn Barnard forms part of a curated selection of artworks for the Smile Foundation’s Art Auction in May 2026.
Artworks sold at the Auction will contribute to funding for children in need of life-changing reconstructive surgery.
An exhibit 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.
