The Shelter Drawing

Originally from the Netherlands, Kate Steenhauer’s diverse career path has taken her from competitive tennis in her youth, to a PhD in Coastal Engineering at the University of Aberdeen, to visual art. Through National Theatre of Scotland, she developed an interdisciplinary approach involving live drawing in Japanese ink unfolding on a screen through a projector and interacting with a narrative on a live stage. These performances hold elements of risk, are real and fresh for audience and artists, and transformable into audio-visual installations and Japanese ink drawings on rice-paper. Multiple interdisciplinary collaborations have put this into practice: Opera Holland Park, where she collaborated with Conductor Matthew Waldren during a Puccini production, earning her the 2017 Aberdeen Visual Artist Award. The Shelter combines live drawing with a multi-voiced verbatim performance by Shane Strachan. Initially developed on the streets of Aberdeen, the work was supported by National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen Performing Arts, performed at the Lemon Tree in 2018 and commissioned for Aberdeen Festival of Light and Haddo House Arts Festival, where it won an installation prize. Hedda is a live stage performance in which a dialogue is created between movement, sound and Japanese ink drawings in collaboration with Choreographer Newland and Sound Artist Kim. The dialogue focuses on malfunctioning of human body and mind, was supported by Creative Scotland and CityMoves Dance Agency, and performed at Aberdeen University 2018 May Festival. Currently she is collaborating with Aberdeen University correlating ink drawings with music through Artificial Intelligence based on the principles of art and music. This work leads to an interactive performance between her and the ‘AI Brain’. She has a significant track record in collaborating with Scottish industries; through behind-the-scene access at Speyside Cooperage, stood on Helicopters in gigantic hangars at Aberdeen Heliport, captured life at the Shipyards of Aberdeen, a Wool mill still using Victorian machinery and a livestock auction at Thainstone Mart. This multiple award-winning body of work has been exhibited in solo shows in Venice and Scotland (Meffan, Heinzel, Eion Stewart Fine Art Galleries and Duff House), and has regularly been part of national shows at The Mall Galleries London, Bankside Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute of The Fine Arts.