Katie Diederich
Katie Diederich
Katie Diederich

“He aspired to an aesthetic ideal of emptiness. True beauty could only be realised in the material world, he held, when it was stripped almost bare, with only the merest suggestion of colour, pattern or texture. The mind, the imagination of the beholder, should be allowed to complete the picture in the mood of the moment.”
(Ancient Taoist Scholar Lao Tse, Quoted by Alexandra Black)

I have found myself influenced by traditional Japanese interiors. Rice paper screens are specifically designed to allow changing light to create different moods, colours and atmospheres throughout the day. I love the clarity and calming simplicity of their unadorned walls and sparsely furnished floors. It is this sense of space I want to bring into my work.

I have found the work of Gary Hume inspiring, particularly the way he allows the features of his work to blur and merge with the backgrounds, only allowing a certain amount of information to reach the viewer, ensuring that they interpret it on a personal level. My dissertation “Intentions and Interpretations: Encounters with Paintings” was focused around three very different artists who’s work has influenced my own (Mark Rothko, Sean Scully and Arturo Di Stefano), and how much information their work fed the viewer and the amount of ambiguity which allowed the viewers to come to their own conclusions about it. This has been something I have continued to consider in relation to my own work.