Artist profile
Catherine
Hiller
Catherine Hiller is a French born, Melbourne based abstract expressionist artist.
Catherine Hiller's work concentrates on powerful, emotional moments in time – human snapshots. Through very energetic and sensual strokes, she expresses her love of paint and color. Her works are raw and visceral, the product of instinct rather than intellect. Being very sensitive to her surroundings - colors, sounds, people, and most of all music - every cue, whether visual, aural, or emotional, has a color to her, and she tries to translate it all onto canvas without the distraction of a thought process. She also particularly enjoys the process, the physicality of painting, and hopefully, it transpires in the end result.
French born, Catherine studied art in Paris before embarking on a successful career in advertising in the UK. After 11 years in the UK, she moved to Australia in 2004 and has been living in Melbourne since. She has had solo and group shows in France, England, and Australia, and her work is represented in private collections nationally and internationally.
Career Highlights
- My first solo show in the UK in 2004
- My first art fair in Sydney in 2015
- The opening of my studio/gallery in Melbourne in 2021
What medium do you work with, and why have you chosen them?
I work exclusively in oils – I find it a lot richer and I love the way it glides on linen. There’s also something about the smell of it, I find it comforting because it evokes so many hours of bliss in the studio over the years.
How does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?
My work is completely intuitive and consists of many, many layers of oil paint that gradually build the story that needs to be told. I generally work on several pieces at the same time, allowing the layers to dry. Music is also paramount to my process - depending on my mood, loud and eclectic music that guides me through the work flow..
Can you tell us a little more about your creative working environment/studio?
I have had a few studios in the last few years but I eventually found my dream space in Port Melbourne in 2021. It's in an old heritage listed building that used to be a cart and lorry factory in the 1870s - it has a huge amount of character and lots of vintage industrial features. I walk there from home every morning with my dog Buddy and couldn't dream of a better space to work in.
