I was born in 1971, the eldest child of George and Aldy Johnston. My father is a Scottish immigrant who has always encouraged me to build big and dream bigger. My mother is an Australian Art and Home Studies teacher. I spent my early childhood growing up on a Kiwi Fruit farm in the green hills of Maleny, QLD. My backyard was a valley with the beautiful Obi Obi Creek and its waterfalls, swimming holes and rockpools. The freedom and practical independence of this childhood has shaped me as an adult and runs deep through my artistic practice.

After finishing my Psychology degree in the early 1990's I spent many years travelling internationally. My travels inspired me on so many levels, most especially with regards to my art practice. I returned to Australia in the late 1990's and completed my Bachelor of Fine Art through the Queensland College of Art, before eventually returning back to settle in the UK where I had my own graphic design business.

I returned permanently to Australia in 2005 and had my two children while living in Montville on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, QLD. I have recently once again returned to the lush green hills of the hinterland after spending 7 years in the interim practicing as a full time professional artist based in Moyston, Regional Victoria. It is my dream to establish a contemporary sculpture park and gallery here in the hills, and I am currently Creative Director of Secrets on the Lake Art Gallery at Lake Baroon in Montville.

I am passionate about the interactivity and tactility of the sculptural installation. My pieces comment on the contemporary human condition in a personal and sometimes confronting way. I use techniques of repetition and scale to reinforce my concepts, and always create with an inherent respect to the technical process of making.

I believe in the accessibility of art for all who encounter it, regardless of education or experience. I want my works to reach people and be understood on a deeply personal level, but my works also operate in multi-layers of meaning. In their simplest interpretations my works project a strong core message, enabling an instant emotional and intellectual engagement. Beneath this initial interpretation lies further layers of meaning and abstraction. Every detail or element is for a reason. Every detail tells another story and casts light on a larger, more complex and often sinister slice of the world we inhabit.

ARTIST PROFILE

Catherine Johnston                           

BORN:

1971 in Toowoomba, Queensland                                                                            

EDUCATION:

• 1988 Dux, Maleny High School, QLD
• 1991 B.A. Psychology, UQ, QLD
• 2000 B. Fine Art, Sculpture/Intermedia Majors, Award for Academic Excellence in 98, 99 and 2000, QCA, QLD

EXPERIENCE:

• 2017 - Current Creative Director Secrets on the Lake Art Gallery, Montville QLD
• 2010 - Current Cath Johnston Sculpture
• 2005 – 2009 Montville Graphics, freelance Graphic Design and Sculpture, Montville, QLD
• 2000 – 2005 Establishing Alternarts Ltd, freelance Graphic Design, UK. Clients - Vercase, Guess, BT, RNID.
• 1998 – 2000 Art Therapist, children’s weekend camps, CPLQ
• 1996 – 1998 Hard Pressed Pulp Company, handmade paper pulp collages.
• 1991 – 1996 Extended travels - Australia, Asia, Africa, America, Europe and UK.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND RESIDENCIES:

• 2018 Artist in Residence - Secrets on the Lake Art Gallery, Montville. QLD
• 2016 'Family Tree' - Moyston Primary School
• 2015 'Pigs Can Fly' - LEAP programme, Ballarat Art Gallery, VIC
• 2013 ''Recent Works' - Artman Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2013 'Art under the floorboards' - Ballarat Uniting Care resdiency programme
• 2012 'Under my skin' - Ararat Regional Art Gallery, VIC
• 2012 ‘Missconceptions’ - Ballarat Art Gallery, VIC
• 2011 Rainbow Love – Courthouse Gallery, Geelong, VIC
• 2011 Rainbow Love – Stawell GCH, VIC
• 2011 ‘undercover’ - Trocadero ARI Footscray, VIC
• 2011 ‘static’ - Trocadero Billboard, Footscray, VIC
• 2011 Rainbow Love, Manuscript Room at Ballarat Art Gallery, VIC
• 2011 Backspace Arts Venue Residency, Ballarat, VIC
• 2011 ‘Rainbow Love’, Grampians Community Health, Stawell, VIC
• 2010 ‘Rainbow Love’, Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Ararat, VIC
• 2009 ‘Pulp’, Secrets Gallery, Montville, QLD

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2018 Queer Country, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2018 Secrets Art Gallery, Montville, QLD
• 2017 Queer Country, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2016 Resilience, Moyston Art Group Show, Moyston, VIC
• 2016 Queer Country, Dudley House, Bendigo, VIC
• 2016 Queer Country, Smith St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne, VIC
• 2015 Bendigo Queer Art, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2014 Bendigo Queer Art, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2013 Midsumma Group Show, Melbourne, VIC
• 2013 'Enigma' Photography Show - Artman Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2013 Bendigo Queer Art, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2012 Midsumma 'Energy from Stillness', Red Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2013 Collingwood Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2012 Midsumma 'Reveal', 1000£ Bend, Melbourne, VIC
• 2012 Bendigo Queer Art, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2012 Same Same but Different, WTC Atrium Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2011 Big and Bold Sculpture Exhibition, Substation, Footscray, VIC
• 2011 SUBspace project, Malop St, Geelong, VIC
• 2011 Bendigo Queer Art, La Trobe Gallery, Bendigo, VIC
• 2011 Convent Gallery, Daylesford, VIC
• 2011 ‘Textile’ Horsham Regional Art Gallery, VIC
• 2011 ‘Identity’, 45Downstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC
• 2004 ‘Women’s International’ Finalist, Westend Centre, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
• 2002 ‘Neighbourhood Grafix’, Northampton, UK
• 1999 ‘Women in Art’, Montville Hall, Montville, QLD

GRANTS AND AWARDS:

• 2012 Toyota Indoor Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition finalist, Port Melbourne, VIC
• 2012 Regional Arts Victoria Project Grant for the 'Bagsnatcher' installation
• 2011 Toyota Indoor Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition finalist, Port Melbourne, VIC
• 2011 Linden Postcard Exhibition, Finalist, St Kilda, VIC
• 2010 Regional Arts Quick Response Grant for ‘Rainbow Love/Tie the Knot’
• 2010 ‘Noosa 3D Travelling Scholarship’ Finalist, Noosa Regional Gallery, Tewantin, QLD
• 2010 ‘National Artworkers Award’ Finalist, Paddington, Brisbane, QLD
• 2010 ‘Churchie Emerging Artist Award’ Finalist, QCA Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
• 2002 Best Sculpture, Neighbourhood Grafix, Northampton, UK
• 1999 & 1998 Academic Excellence Awards, Griffith University, QLD
• 1999 Peoples Choice & Best Sculpture Award, Women in Art, Montville, QLD
• 1999 ‘Artistcare Student Drawing Prize’ Finalist, QCA, Brisbane, QLD

COMMISSIONS:

• 2017 'On the Piste', Grampians Petanque Club, Moyston, VIC
• 2016 'Country Rose' and 'Junior', Secrets on the Lake, Montville, QLD
• 2015 'To Have and To Hold', Secrets on the LAke, Montville, QLD
• 2011 Artlink LEAP project, Ballarat Art Gallery, VIC
• 2008 Mural, Palmwoods Aquatic Centre, QLD
• 2006 ‘Woman in Water’, Secrets on the Lake, Montville, QLD
• 2003 ‘Wrong Way, Go Back’, Neighbourhood, Northampton, UK
• 2000 ‘A Piece of the Puzzle’, CPLQ, QLD

COLLECTIONS AND REPRESENTATION:

Works held in Private Collections in the Netherlands, England, Bermuda and within public and private collections in Australia.