I am an artist currently living and creating in Wellington, New Zealand.
Creativity is an essential part of who I am. It is my first and foremost passion. I have been painting and creating for as long as I can remember.
As an artist I am constantly inspired by the world around me, it's colourful characters and different environments; as well as by the many rich experiences that have shaped and influenced me.
Painting for me is an essential creative outlet which allows me to express externally what I am experiencing internally. My paintings are the result of my need to create and express what I yearn to see and feel more of in this world. I have a strong desire to be part of and to cultivate a more colourful, unified and vibrant world. My craving of culture and for enriching, nurturing and fun experiences has compelled me to create bright and electrifying works whose imagery is life enhancing, joyful, uplifting and hopeful.
Over the past two decades I have tried a range of different painting techniques and styles. Abstraction has been a very deliberate choice. It allows for a greater freedom of expression, personal interpretation and individuality of style and pictorial language. It is through this medium I want to give the viewer a sense of the joy, vibrancy and the potential of the world we inhabit together.
As well as painting, I have spent the last two decades studying & exploring photography, print making, graphic design, djing, raranga, jazz vocals/singing and contemporary dance. During this time I have exhibited and sold works at numerous galleries, shows and outlets throughout NZ.
Earlier works include detailed Maori motif where I have drawn inspiration from my Maori heritage, my iwi being Nga Puhi & Ngati Maniapoto.
I have always been passionate about Maori culture, the natural environs of Aotearoa and exploring the holistic principles that underlie and connect indigenous cultures throughout the world.
More recent & current works have been dedicated to creating and producing large scale, more abstract paintings that deliver bold, punchy, vibrant statements. Eccentric and playful in their nature, these painterly pieces invite the viewer to stop, look & take a deep dive into the wilds of expressive abandonment.
E N J O Y my works!
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SEE TEXT FOR ARTICLE - BELOW
L U S T F O R L I F E
By Anita Peters (Nelson Mail Article)
‘Lust’ is the title and driving force of the current exhibition by Cath Rogers at the Dangerous Kitchen, street-front café in Takaka, Golden Bay. A real lust for life is what these paintings do reflect with their bold sweeping brushstrokes that dive throughout layers of ordered geometric shapes, giving a vital tension to the work.
The vibrancy is enhanced by bright fluorescent flashes of acid greens, pinks and electric blues contrasted by muted pastels. These paintings are a whole new direction for Cath. “I like how these two styles work together” she says. “They balance each other out and are really an expression of what is happening in my life with trying to be a well balanced, pro-active mother with the need for huge physical & emotional release; a lust for creative freedom and freedom of expression, for movement, dance & sensuality.”
Over the past four years Cath has devoted much of her time and energy to her first child, four year old Lucca. She has now embraced these life changes and poured them with vigour into her paintings, achieving this not only in a very short time but also coinciding with the opening of her shared ‘Detour Working Studio’ in Takaka. “My mother always told me your capacity grows as a mother. The busy, chaotic & new found energy of being a new mum is really reflected in my work.”
While Cath has been painting for as long as she can remember, until recently her work has been of a much smaller scale, as in the detailed Maori motif paintings of the late 90’s, which incorporated her own symbolic designs. After studying at TLC (The Learning Connexion) in 2002 she broke free and began working on larger canvases with a new and wild energy. “I found it a huge relief to be able to express more freely on a large scale canvas what I was experiencing on the inside. It was really a personal revolution to my creative expression. My experience of life is always changing… as life and the world around me continues to evolve, so do my works…”
Aside from painting, other creative talents have inspired Cath towards exciting future projects. Her love of photography she hopes one day will eventuate into an exhibition, and she is also trying her hand at creating funky clothing with images of her paintings digitally printed & screen printed onto fabric. But as if that is not enough, she has plans for an exhibition/ party night that includes all of her creative ideas into one event; to incorporate her love of jazz vocals which she studied at Massey Conservatorium of Music, Wellington in 2004, a painting exhibition and performance in her clothing combined with a mix of dj and livevocals over the top into a “kind of multi-genre festive exhibit, where people have the chance to view works at the beginning then they can dance into the night!” This is one busy artist mum making up for lost time!
P R E V I O U S E X H I B I T S
Tui Treefield, Perf Art @ PDC 2018 Potocki Paterson Gallery, Wgtn 2016 Kura Gallery, Akld & Wgtn 2004 - 18 NZ Art Show, Wgtn 2005-18 Detour Working Studio, Takaka 2014-16 Dangerous Kitchen, Takaka 2016
Ora NZ Design & Art Space, Wgtn 2007-10 Ora @ Dowse Gallery, Petone 2008-09 Monza Gallery, Takaka 2008-10 Mana Gallery, Parnell, Akld 2008
Koata Gallery, Nelson 2007-08
Tamarillo Gallery, Wgtn 2005-08
Monaco Gallery, Nelson 2006
Morrison St Café, Nelson 2006
Totally Roasted Café, Golden Bay 2006
Wgtn City Council, mural work, 2005