Contemporary geometric abstraction in oil, exploring colour, structure and transparency.
Catherine Graves is a British artist based in France. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Art and taught secondary school art in the UK for ten years - including two years as Head of Department - before turning her focus fully to her own practice. Over the past three years, she has developed a distinctive body of large-scale geometric abstract oil paintings.
Her work explores the relationship between precision and colour. Each shape is meticulously hand-painted without the use of tape or stencils — a deliberate commitment to craftsmanship that distinguishes her practice. Subtle overlapping forms create translucent effects, allowing colours to interact and shift in intensity, producing compositions that feel both structured and fluid.
Process
Catherine develops her initial compositions digitally, a process influenced by her visit to David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2012. Encountering David Hockney’s pioneering use of the iPad as a drawing tool marked a significant shift in her approach. The immediacy of digital sketching allows her to explore colour relationships and compositional balance intuitively before translating them into carefully constructed oil paintings.
Inspiration
Her work is informed by the colour theory of Johannes Itten and the formal clarity of Bauhaus and Constructivism. She draws ongoing inspiration from artists such as Bridget Riley and Sonia Delaunay, whose exploration of rhythm, geometry and colour resonates within her own visual language.
Simplicity of form and a refined visual language remain at the heart of her practice. Through disciplined structure and a natural sensitivity to colour, Catherine creates harmonious yet dynamic works that celebrate balance, light and the emotive power of abstraction.