Kathryn Desforges

Kathryn Desforges is a Yorkshire-based artist who creates process-driven, contemporary artworks which explore her fascination with unseen and in-between places. Her work spans drawing, painting and print, presenting fragmented glimpses of half-real, half-imagined worlds which ignite a sense of curiosity and wonder in the viewer.

Material experimentation is key in Kathryn’s art practice. Ideas are distilled and refined through manipulation - carving, scratching, sanding back, painting over - opening gateways to uncharted possibilities and celebrating the unexpected. What results are re-imaginings, pieced together from snippets and fleeting glimpses of her everyday, inviting viewers to explore and interpret, and fostering a deep connection between the observer and the enchanting ‘other’ worlds she creates.

Kathryn came to find her passion for materials through printmaking. She specialises in etching, lithography and woodcut, and her career as a printmaking technician and tutor informs and enhances her practice - she loves challenging pre-conceptions of what a ‘print’ can be.

Kathryn trained at Kingston University, and since has undertaken numerous artist residencies and further training, including a Post-Graduate Lithography Fellowship at Leicester Print Workshop. Recent career highlights include exhibiting at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London, and an artist residency at Mi-LAB, Japan, where she spent five weeks learning the art of Japanese woodblock printing.