Katherine Olston

Katherine Olston is a multidisciplinary artist who operates across the experiential boundaries of sculpture, performance and installation. With a background in set design, and experience including design construction for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and work with the theatrical company, Erth, her practice explores an awareness of socially constructed norms, cultural environments and femininity. Heavily influenced by her time living and working in Thailand from 1999 to 2006, her artwork delivers the unique aesthetics, production techniques and encounters of this cultural experience.

During her time in Thailand, Olston encouraged collaborative processes, developing her practice within the Beauty Suit collective, a group of 12 artists from 3 countries. Among others, these projects included Beauty Suit in 2003 as part of an Asialink Performing Arts Residency; BeautyForm Unisuit, a 2006 collaboration with artists Estelle Cohenny and Chakkrit Chimnok; and Mirror Room, a 2006 collaborative performance alongside Boondarik Sukhaboon and Estelle Cohenny for the National Review of Live Arts (Glasgow). These collaborations extended beyond the Beauty Suit collective, in 2010, collaborating with Thai artist and Womanifesto co-founder Phaptawan Suwannakudt for 24HR Art (NT Centre for Contemporary Art, Parap).

In 2006, Olston co-organised the web-based project No Man’s Land with Varsha Nair. This instance of the ongoing Womanifesto collective addressed ideas of borders, the territory of inclusionary/exclusionary conflict and unification. Within this virtual exhibition, Olston, in collaboration with Sue Hajdu, developed the performance piece Patriotic Pups, where performers act as dogs amongst Australian flags - a staging which addressed attitudes towards nationalism as territoriality.