Kathrin Longhurst
KATHRIN LONGHURST
Female Warriors
German-born artist Kathrin Longhurst produces breathtaking figurative artworks, drawing on her life in Berlin during the Cold War. With a cavalcade of awards and exhibitions, Kathrin is at the forefront of Australian art.
Writer: Sam Williams
WITH a focus on the reappropriation of propaganda imagery, Kathrin explores the empowerment of women, human rights and social justice through her impressive oil works.
Growing up in Soviet-controlled East Berlin, beyond the Berlin Wall, Kathrin’s figurative works are heavily inspired by her experiences and surroundings in an oppressive era.
“It inspires my artwork continuously. My whole body of work is based around the language and the symbolism of propaganda art that I have grown up with. It's endless. It's why I paint the way I do, because that's what I'm familiar with. Abstract art for us growing up was just not around. There were no abstract paintings displayed in museums or galleries.”
I CAN REMEMBER
“In East Berlin, I probably would have gone into the government - to do propaganda or to do some sort of political paintings.”
QUIET DETERMINATION
OFFICER
DOMINATION
‘There are very limited places available for artists. You should become an industrial designer or product designer.’ And that's probably what would have happened to me.”
Kathrin managed to leave Germany when her mother remarried, moving to Sweden in 1987, just two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. She took to studying business at university, eventually obtaining her master's in business administration. On an exchange in Perth during her studies, Kathrin met her now-husband. The two lived together around Europe before finally settling in Sydney in 2000, just in time for the Olympics.
In 2003, Kathrin realised she was living a life without passion and was unfulfilled. She quit her corporate job and began painting, part-time at first. Some side web design and graphic design jobs helped to pay the bills. After ten or so years of tireless work, Kathrin was able to go full-time with art, finding herself a nice studio to work from and throwing herself completely into a career in art.
“When we were in the warehouse, stuff happened. I ended up winning a couple of prizes and being entered in big competitions. Things shifted enormously when I was in the Brookvale Arts District.”
KATE
After six years in her previous studio, Kathrin now creates from the comfort of her home. Although she cherishes the time spent in shared spaces, especially the collaborations and instant feedback, Kathrin is very content in her home studio, where she can easily work all day and night.
Kathrin has seen some great achievements in her time as an artist. She has exhibited in countless galleries in cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Barcelona and Taipei, to name a few. She’s been a finalist in many of Australia’s finest art prizes, even winning the Archibald Packing Room Prize in 2021 with her stunning painting of Kate Cebrano. She was also the Vice President for Portrait Artists Australia and founded the artist-run initiative Project 504. But Kathrin says she couldn’t do her work without her models, the real women front and centre in Kathrin’s masterful artworks.
“They have such huge input. I feel so grateful to work with these women who give so much of themselves for my work. People often ask me, ‘Why do you pick them?’ And quite often it's the opposite, they’ve picked me. And that's when you get the most magic. They’re these incredibly resilient and beautiful people. Fierce and strong, but soft and vulnerable at the same time. And that’s what I bring to the canvas.”
So long as there are women’s stories to tell, Kathrin will continue taking the art world by storm.
kathrinlonghurst.com
@kathrinlonghurst
