“Since childhood I have had a love for the fantastic and the imaginary – I enjoy depicting the real and unreal together, harmony and conundrum, a juxtaposition of the unusual with the everyday. My characters invoke a sense of pathos or disquieting whimsy, and I like to encourage viewers to invent their own narratives.”
About
Kaitlin Beckett is a painter, illustrator and sculptor working in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Her mixed media paintings and assemblage sculptures form a curious bestiary of creatures from the sea, air, land and subconscious; expressing a surreal narrative rich in symbolism, humour and biological paradox.
Influenced by quirks of the natural world, mythology and dreams, her art illustrates dystopian post-apocalyptic scenes in which slightly humanoid characters adapt, hybridise and evolve in awkward and impractical ways. Emphasis is placed on texture, line and detail by layering acrylics, gouache, pencils and pastel. Kaitlin also incorporates random splatters, stencils and airbrushing, alongside traditional painting and drawing techniques. She has held several solo exhibitions in Melbourne; exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, America, England, Japan, and Canada; and her works have been collected throughout the world.
Kaitlin works full time from her home studio. She likes sketching while watching old sci fi movies, cryptozoology, collecting gas masks and hoarding art materials, some of which she has had since she was 5.
SELECTED MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
ART THY NEIGHBOUR Interview and feature
BLANKET MAGAZINE Interview and feature in Issue #22 (Cosmos) and collaboration with editor Bec Brown
CURVY One of 6 featured artists in Issue #6
DEBATE MAGAZINE Cover and feature interview in Issue #24
FLAMINGO Artwork feature in a book by Caitlin Kight, part of the Animal series by Reaktion Books
HOUSEINK MAGAZINE Interview and feature
I WANT YOUR SKULL Artwork feature in issue 9
INVURT Interview
JUST ANOTHER BOOK Interview & feature in Just Another Agency’s first publication
JUST ANOTHER BOOK Interview & feature in Just Another Agency’s second publication
JUST ANOTHER BOOK Interview & feature in Just Another Agency’s third publication
JUST ANOTHER BOOK Feature in Just Another Agency’s fourth publication
LAZY GRAMOPHONE Interview
NOTHING TO NOBODY Feature on website
NOTHING TO NOBODY Feature in Issue #9
OUT OF STEP BOOKS Artwork feature in ‘Black and White’
OUT OF STEP BOOKS Artwork feature in ‘Excavate’
OUT OF STEP BOOKS Artwork feature in ‘Slithers and Scales of Inspiration’
RED BUBBLE Interview and studio shoot
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Bloodgoats feature in the Symbiartic Blog
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Feathered dinosaurs feature in the Symbiartic Blog
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Octobeast feature in the Symbiartic Blog
SIX YEARS LATER (6YL) Artwork feature in 3rd edition ‘Instinct’
STREET ANATOMY Feature
STROBED Artwork feature
STUPID KRAP Artwork feature in the Red Book
VIMEO Exoskeletons exhibition preview and opening night
VIMEO Redbubble Office Mural
VIMEO Reanimation exhibition opening night
