Kat is a person.
Kat has long blended art and science with philosophy and music, crafting unique narratives that transcend borders. Her art invites you to enjoy its beauty, but it also offers layers of depth for those who want to dive into the fascinating concepts behind it. It’s in using her art to tackle tough but meaningful conversations that you’ll truly experience Kat’s brilliance.
In her artistic practice, she focuses on environmental issues. She melds disciplines and media, creating sculptural and new media installations, performances and participatory work. Austen’s practice is underpinned by extensive research and theory, and driven by a motivation to explore how to move towards a more socially and environmentally just future.
Austen’s work is often place-based and concerned with landscape and identity. Her field research has taken her on multiple journeys such as: Western Australia, the Irish West Atlantic coast, Southern Korea and the Northernmost tip of Japan. Her voyage around the Canadian High Arctic, through the Artist in the Arctic programme, led to her being selected as inaugural Cultural Fellow in Art and Science at the Cultural Institute, University of Leeds.
She has performed around the globe, including at Opera North (UK); Fusion Festival (DE); Ars Electronica Festival (AT), Love Tomorrow (BE) and Headlands Center for the Arts (US). Her performances mix choreography, sound and visuals, showcasing her ability to captivate an audience with great depth and multi-layered narratives.
Austen’s prize-winning work has exhibited at Venice Biennale (IT); Jeju Museum of Art (KR); V&A Museum (UK); Contemporary Museum Wrocław (PL); Prater Galerie (DE); LABoral (ES); Bozar Centre for Fine Arts (BE) among others, and her work is held internationally in public and private collections.
Working from her studios in Seoul and Berlin, Austen is Honorary Associate Professor at UCL Arts and Sciences. With projects supported by Neustart Kultur, ZER01NE, Jeonju Millenium Hanji Museum and Creative Europe among others, she has held numerous residencies and fellowships including STARTS Residency Repairing the Present at Ars Electronica, STARTS4Water ii, EMAP / EMARE Artist in Residence at WRO Art Center 2020 and Artist Fellow at Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Helmholz Center, Potsdam. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and holds a Ph.D. from UCL in Chemistry.
