MEET KATE, ARTIST, ARCHITECT & PROJECT MANAGER
This International Women’s Day, we pay homage to the formidable women in our community who inspire us with their stories of female empowerment, industry leadership and activism.
Kate Endacott is an Artist and Architect. Recently having moved back from New York to work on the architectural development of new Soho Houses, she has rekindled her love of art by remembering to slow down, finding a sense of place and borrowing the beauty from what she sees around her.
Can you explain the inspiration behind your art?
"The inspiration for my art comes from a sense of place. It's about where I am in a moment of time. When I lived in New York, it was about understanding the streetscape. I used to climb out onto my fireescape on the 6th floor and look down at the people dining below on the street and it was such an intimate insight into people's interactions. Since coming back to Australia, my art took a new form as my inspiration shifted. Living along the beautiful Australian east coast, meant my practice delved into nature, rock formations, the colours and divine patterns in the natural world around us."
Could you tell us about your time living in New York and what drove you to move?
"I moved to New York about five years ago. I was offered a job with Soho House based out of New York City running their architecture projects. It was an absolutely incredible experience!"
"...New York was a crazy place to live and work, events were happening all the time, streets were vibrant with life, and people are creative, passionate and excited. I loved living there!"
"...It was such a contrast being in New York during the COVID Lockdown. We went from having activities every day from gallery openings, loft parties launches for magazines to suddenly nothing, the busiest of worlds stopped in an instant and for the first time in a while, I experienced silence. The machine had been temporarily decommissioned and put to rest. I remember I went from having everything at my fingertips to a forced moment of slowness, I had time on my hands..."
"...I could hear the birds in the street as the noisiness of the centre retracted into a gentle hum and then into nothing at all, thus I started to paint. I remember the first artwork I drew in lockdown was 150,000 tiny circles on this giant sheet of paper. For me, that was my way of processing that were happening around me and led into my art career..."
Will you ever returned to New York?
"I had the most incredible time in New York and in the US. It’s always going to be there to visit and go back to. However we have such a beautiful lifestyle in Australia. A big part of moving back was also acknowledging that I worked hard, and experienced some incredible things, but also burnout. It's exhausting when you're going at 150% all the time. Coming back to Australia was about having a chance to reset, to reconnect with friends and family and just to enjoy this beautiful lifestyle that we all share here together."
Follow Kate's journey on Instagram @kateendacott or view her online exhibitions at www.kateendacott.com.