The Cat Street Gallery is delighted to present Kate Shaw's second solo exhibition in Hong Kong 'SOLASTALGIA'. Kate Shaw is a Melbourne based artist who creates landscapes that are simultaneously sublime and toxic. Formed out of ‘paint pours’ and collage techniques, her landscapes capture the transcendent beauty of nature; the swirls of acrylic paint, ink, glitters and powders mimic the flow of natural processes. This intersection of creation and corruption in Shaw’s alchemical creations teases out our conflicted relationship with nature – a relationship fraught with awe and fear, closeness and distance.

Solastalgia is a neologism that describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as mining or climate change. Coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003, it was formed from a combination of the Latin word solacium (comfort) and the Greek root –algia (pain).

Shaw’s works have been shown extensively throughout Australia, as well as New York, and Seoul. The artist has also been included in prominent Australian art prizes and her works are part of significant private and corporate collections including the Westpac Collection, Macquarie Group Collection, and the Museum of Brisbane. The artist has been shortlisted for over 30 prizes, including the Prudential Eye Award 2015, Saatchi Gallery, London and won Artists Wanted 2011, Scope New York.