Kate Hiley

Hiley’s work uses classical subject matter as a vehicle to explore the formal elements of painting. The romanticism of the subject matter, whether it be a landscape, nude or still life, is hardened by her direct use of colour, line and space. Her work uses these formal elements to comment on their validity; what defines a painting as finished? Is a painting worth more if it takes a long time to make? Can a sketch and a painting be the same thing?

With her expressive mark making she encourages the viewer to feel the physicality of the works, connecting the paintings back to the body that made them and imbuing them with the quickness, freedom and energy of a sketch.

Hiley has lived and worked in France and Indonesia, and currently resides in London, UK. She has curated exhibitions internationally and was the Co-Directer and Curator of the gallery space Le Cabinet Dentaire in Paris, France from 2015 - 2016. She has taken part in several residences worldwide from Iceland to Italy, including the prestigious Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship at Yale School of Art.