Catrina Lloyd studied spatial design at Auckland University of Technology and has a background in design, interiors and textiles, which can be found within her vibrant painting practice. Her self-taught style is a daring balance between unconscious responses and energetic releases of energy.

Catrina describes her rationale as: “the movement and sound of making a brushstroke, the vibrancy of colour, the way paint moves like water when it is runny and how you can scratch back into it when it is thick.” She is captivated by the medium of paint and its ability to create all manner of textures and layers that reference the natural world.

Her biggest inspiration at present is the raw energy of the West Coast of Auckland, specifically Muriwai where she lives and works. She maps the movement of the coastline through sweeps of abstract brush work, and the unbridled energy of the wind with her extraordinary mark-making. In this way, she allows the painting to emerge from one mark to the next, intuitively forming so as to reflect the unconscious energy of nature.

In her piece Discotheque#1 (2023), abstract mark making and paint brush strokes form an vibrant scene, as shape meets colour on the dance floor. In Discotheque #2 (2023), Catrina’s urge to paint feels similar to an urge to dance, as vibrant brush strokes move through energetic marks on board.