Katie Tomlinson’s paintings reflect on the united experiences of women and explore a mix of emotions and ideas: intimacy, vulnerability, power structures, emotional dependency, alienation, self-empowerment, brutality, sexual desire, trauma, and exchange within relationships.
Using vivid colour and playful motifs the paintings depict various narratives, moments and actions. Seemingly recognisable interactions are made strange by the incorporation of symbolism, surreal imagery and gestural, abstracted marks that distort the imagery. This results in the paintings having two tempos. The first tempo refers to the initial reading of the painting, which draws the viewer in through its colour, texture and sometimes, abstraction. The second tempo refers to the discovery of darker and more complex narratives. The characters within the paintings demand further exploration, inviting questions about their identities, actions, motivations, and relationships with one another.
Tomlinson’s paintings directly reference salient moments within the history of art, in order to enhance and develop the painting's narrative. The works wouldn’t exist without the canon of patriarchal art history, everything is reconsidered, viewed differently, stolen and stolen back.
