Katherine Renton


I grew up on the coast of North East England, where the numerous ruins have inspired my work on the perverse interconnection between conflict and play: castles became the site for childhood battle games, World War II pillboxes were Wendy houses, and concrete tank traps served as playground apparatus. Conversely, my current series, depicting sandcastles that I encounter along the coastline, are created out of play but pre-empt destruction. My fascination lies in the creative and renewable use of found natural materials.

The destructive potential of natural materials also plays a fundamental part in my creative process. I collect rock fragments from the coastline and reduce them to a fine powder before adding my own binder to create watercolour paint. Seacoal from local beaches creates my unique medium with a glistening sediment, whilst referencing industry with its environmental repercussions. The controversial fossil fuel, shale, forms my grey pigment, whereas more colourful hues are derived from bricks, dumped on beaches to reinforce the coastline, and cliff-fallen pieces of yellow ochre and sandstone.

My castle motif intimates the causes of our contemporary issues, but also a solution: England’s border castles became obsolete, not through victory or defeat, but through unification – bringing greater stability, safety and prosperity. I paint the castles of this time in all their diverse, collective and sustainable glory.

The title for the sandcastle series, ‘Keep’, is ambiguous, I examine what we take from our past, and retain for our future.

Biography
Katherine Renton has a degree in Fine Art from Newcastle University, and holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. She practised painting, alongside her career as an art teacher, until recently leaving teaching to pursue a full-time career as an artist. She is based on the coast of Northumberland, England, and in her paintings she depicts elements of the coastline to explore contemporary issues related to her environment and identity.
Exhibitions
2023 Newbiggin Maritime Centre (July-October) – ‘CASTLE COAST’, joint exhibition.
2023 Bailiffgate Museum (March-May): ‘KEEP – CASTLES, COAST, COAL AND CLIMATE’, solo exhibition.
2022 CARBON_BORDERS_VOICES – an exhibition of work by 86 international artists, writers and researchers, focusing on the climate crisis on coasts and borders.
2022 Woodhorn Museum – ‘PORTRAIT OF NORTHUMBERLAND’ group show.
Awards and Presentations
2019 Newcastle University, Friends of the Hatton – a talk on current work.
2018 Woodhorn Museum, ‘OPEN OCEANS’ – exhibition prizewinner.