It was December 25th 2014, that I received a present that would completely change my life. It was an independent cult film called ‘The Violent Kind’ (2010) written and directed by Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores AKA The Butcher Brothers. 

 

I fell in love with this film immediately, and after finding the directors on Facebook, I decided I wanted to try my hand at creating some fan-art and send it to them to show my appreciation of their work.

 

At that point I had no art materials at all - not so much as a tin of coloured pencils so while clearing out the garage with my mum, I requested that if we found any paints or anything could I have them? 

 

We ended up finding quite an impressive stash of charcoal, acrylics, watercolours, oils.. and more. I then took them upstairs and instinctively began to sketch out the image that I wanted to create and I went on to discover a gift I’d had no idea I possessed.

 

The two themes that pervade my current art practise are erotica and violence, and how they relate together. I’m exploring a number of different avenues in which these two themes interlink: BDSM, exploitation cinema, pornography and the sex industry. In a sense, KatScratch (my artist pseudonym) has become my alter-ego, an outlet for my 'shadow self'.

 

I am heavily influenced by film and music. For me, films are like watercolour paints. You begin with a small drop of paint on a pallet, but then by adding water, you can create a huge range of shades and textures, all starting from that single spot of paint.

 

 

My philosophy is that creating art should ultimately be about playing, with an end goal and a purpose in mind.

 

My other guiding principle is that art doesn't need to be perfect, and like with facial features such as large nose or freckles - it's often these perceived 'imperfections' that make a piece interesting!