Kathryn Sillince - ‘Yellow Snoopy’

This is one of my earlier paintings from 2021, exploring pastels and warm colours, controlled experiments with new techniques laying down bold colours and shapes side by side, using intuition and no planning, a style of painting I really enjoy.

Imbued with an organic, ethereal quality, my work is characterised by a chaotic rainbow palette; clashing and complimentary colours competing together side by side, layered with a mix of calmer muted washes and splashes of bright neon. My work is light and fresh with a joyful energy, and the compositions are a delicate balance of intricate swirling forms and concentrated layers of colour. Finally, embellishments and finishing touches are made which lets some ideas breathe, others left intentionally raw, adding further energy to each piece.

I never plan my paintings; I love exploring new ideas given to me by the last piece of colour or an interesting shape I’ve just put down, I just start somewhere on the canvas and eventually I just instinctively know when it’s finished. I prefer to start and finish a painting in one session as I feel that the energy on that day is unique.

They generally evolve through a subtractive process, beginning with lots of colour and bold vigorous brushstrokes and then working backwards so to speak. I add both thick and transparent layers allowing for the previous washes or dashes of colour to glow through. Flitting between the negative space and the positive, while clutching many brushes loaded with rainbow hues carefully assembled with a palette knife.

ARTIST BIO

Kathryn studied Contemporary Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam, later launching an accessories label after London College of Fashion, for a frenetic 13 years.  Missing her first love of painting, she set up her home studio in Sheffield.

Inspired by a new allotment and perennial love for exotic plants, a figurative addition to her abstract work started in 2023 with botanical forms and utopian escapist scenes.
 Through rich, saturated hues, and unique impasto techniques, she explores how we remember joy. 

Tropical pavilions are a constant source of inspiration, as are rich memories of her grandmothers garden in Szarvas, Hungary and recent trips to Sicily, Malta, Provence and Barcelona.

Vintage risoprints, ethnic interiors, and flea market trawls all over the world feed into her deeply personal aesthetic.  Disco and synth music in the studio helps ignite a joyous feedback loop in her work.

Kathryns work is held by private collectors around the world, exhibits nationally, and was longlisted for Jacksons Art Prize 2021.
Kathryns corporate clients and commissions include: Art Projects Management Ltd. to create two abstracts to go in the Reception for a new Harley Street Clinic and NHS hospital in London.  Her work is licensed and are available on the Samsung Frame TV.