Katherine Atkinson performs on the altar of Highlanes Gallery in response to the exhibition ‘Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation’ (2013)

In August 2013 violinist and performance artist Katherine Atkinson was  invited to respond to The LFTT exhibition Things In Translation: The Legs Foundation at Highlanes Gallery. She decided to stem her performance quite literally from the individual works themselves, enacting an intimate one-one-one engagement with the textures and forms they evoked. It was quite ‘spellbinding’!

Katherine’s work is inspired by physical theatre, using strong visual images as part of the performance. When performing the violin becomes an extension of her physical self, another part of her body as well as an extension of her voice. Inspired by physical theatre, Atkinson uses strong visual images as part of her performance, often responding to specific architectures and environments in an exploration of the boundaries between public and private space.

Katherine says of her practice “I am interested in testing performance concepts in public spaces. I am fascinated by the ways in which audiences respond to public performances, and I have researched this in both my performance work and through academic research.

The encountering of visceral experiences through the physical, sensory and emotional archaeology of an edifice is an inspiring premise. I am interested in looking at the envelope of a building, thinking about the site, ruminating over its purpose, imagining who’s been there before, and sensing who’s there now. It is fascinating to contemplate how a space may change over time, or even in a moment. Wrapped within a site, it is exciting to imagine how the space could be transformed through music and movement by responding to surfaces and textures, floors and ceilings, nooks and corners, light, dark and all shades in between, constructing a physical audio-active foundation for the building.” Read More