Born in 1944 in England, Sydney-based artist Kate Briscoe has an impressive exhibition CV, exhibiting consistently throughout over the last four decades. She obtained her initial tertiary qualifications in the U.K before migrating to complete her Masters of Fine Art at COFA. Briscoe has been a finalist in the Blake, Dobell and Wynne Prizes on various occasions. Her work is included in major public collections including the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, NSW Government House, and Parliament House Canberra.

Briscoe’s practice has been reviewed by respected art writers and critics including Joanna Mendelsohn, Courtney Kidd and Max Germaine. She is included in the 1998 OUP compendium, Australian Feminism, and the Dictionary of Women Artists of Australia by Max Germaine. Briscoe has refined a unique technique for creating her paintings, working sand acrylic and pigment across the canvas to create layering and textures reminiscent of the rock faces that inspire her.

“My work is abstract, but it is sourced from my visual experiences. The drama of geological formations is informing the structures and shapes, so that the work transmits these ideas, the essence of a place. If you are using simple forms, your drawing has to be precise. The way the forms are arranged and the way that the lines and the stresses come through is absolutely crucial to the final compositions. Otherwise, you would not get that tension, that sensation that a split in the rock is imminent.”

Kate Briscoe