KATIE-LARK RATCLIFFE

Katie-Lark Ratcliffe picked up a paintbrush on the first day of lockdown. She painted for five hours straight. “It stopped the world, and it started me painting.”

She is a self-taught artist, who explores a variety of subjects, all with equal curiosity.  “A lot of the times what I’m painting is a new experience for me, but if I trust the process, and I persist then I have an incredible feeling of ‘I did that.’

She loves to tell stories through her paintings, especially the story of a human face. She loves exploring different ethnicities, inspired by her South African childhood. Whatever she is painting, it is full of colour and the enthusiasm of someone exploring. “My style is all about the bright colours, the disorganized strokes, where I just go with it, fix my mistakes and persist. I can always make a mistake, and it doesn’t matter.”

She loves the emotion of painting, the way that it helps her switch of from what she describes as the millions thoughts in her head. “It helps me express the chaos inside.  The ideas or emotions. Painting releases that, I can put it on the canvas and show it to the world.”

Artweeks will be the first time that Katie-Lark has shown her work, in real life beyond Instagram at least. She describes being nervous, but at the same time excited. “Taking this leap of faith is a good feeling. It’s a passion, and I want to jump in”