*KITTY HILLIER (b. 1984) Untitled, 2008

Born in London (1984), Kitty grew up in rural Somerset. After completing her Foundation year at Falmouth Art School she gained a 1st class honours degree in Fine Art Painting at Bath School of Art in 2007. She won the Reveal Emerging Artist Award in 2009 and was awarded the SAW Abundance Commission in 2013, which included a two week residency at Stroud Valley Arts and site-specific installation at Cannington Gardens.
In 2019 she was selected by Hospital Rooms to make two works for the MBU Exeter visitor flats, and in 2020 she became a co-director of CAMP, a member-led network for the creative and visual arts community in Cornwall and Devon. During lockdown, Kitty launched @artinthewindow, using the old shop window of her home to show other artists work, and she ran a drawing group (online and IRL) @pubsketching, encouraging everyone to discover the benefits of exploring experimental mark-making with the simplest of materials. With her non-directive approach to teaching, Kitty regularly leads workshops for the Youth Programme and adults at St Ives School of Painting; these sessions often lean towards building confidence, slow looking and loosening up, as Kitty shares parts of her own process of abstraction and belief in the importance of play.
Selected as one of three artists to work on researcher and filmmaker Rachael Jones’ project: Moving Landscapes, and the Doorstep Residency in 2021, Kitty has most recently exhibited work at Grays Wharf, Newlyn Art Gallery Picture Room, Exeter Phoenix 333 Gallery and with ALMA at Newquay Orchard.
Kitty lives and works from a studio at Islington Wharf, Penryn. Her work is held in private and corporate collections internationally.