Catherine Tomkins

Catherine Tomkins is an Irish-born, Vietnam based artist. She graduated from the Crawford School of Fine Art with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, in 2010.

Her main medium is oil painting, though not exclusively; she also works with water-based materials, watercolours, gouache, Indian ink on paper and glass. She has worked on illustrative projects for journals and private clients, and has exhibited and sold her work in Ireland and the UK. Since moving to Vietnam, she has begun to consolidate her studio practice again after a brief hiatus.

Her work explores ideas of identity, often utilizing the female form, animals, skeletal structures and narrative based scenes. She is currently concerned with capturing the female gaze in her work, in response to the frequent omission of this perspective from much traditional painting. She is also working with ideas of lineage, intergenerational trauma and the connection between those who have come before us, and who we are as a result.

“Painting has always been the most natural thing in the world for me. The practice and process allows me to tap into that which is not expressible through words, it is a methodical, meditative and intuitive process which awakens so much, allowing partly formed or fragmented ideas to emerge and take shape in the image”, she explains. “It’s also an incredibly playful process and though the subject may seem dark, I try to find humour and beauty in that very darkness”.

TiA Talent has the honour to collaborate with CHAU & CO Gallery in Vietnam to represent artist Catherine Tomkins in France.