‘Bottled Up #3’
Katie Theodorus
2024, watercolour, gouache, ink on paper
31cm x 36cm (framed)

Bottled Up is a new series of works based on an ostensibly throw-away conversation I had with a colleague on social media last year. Jokingly telling them that I tend to bottle up my feelings, they — just as jokingly — commented that I should pour them out into my art. This advice percolated in my mind and several months later, came forth as a series of still lifes on both paper and canvas. My neurodiverse brain, being unable to cope with metaphor, produced a very literal “bottle of feelings”. These works continue my practice of taking inspiration from past elder artists and adding a contemporary idiosyncratic twist.

About the artist:
Katie Theodorus works in varied media including paint, soft sculpture, textiles, and found objects. Her practice takes inspiration from sources as varied as nature, history, dreams, internet culture, and her mostly imaginary life as an archivist. 

Her painted works are a portal into the depths of her subconscious — simultaneously unsophisticated and layered with depths of meaning, with an edge of wry humour. Many of her works act as medicine, reconciling her experiences as large-bodied, neurodiverse, mentally ill and chronically ill. 

In recent years, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has added a new level of wonkiness to her drawings, which she’s decided adds a certain charm. 

Instagram: @katie_theodorus
Web: katietheodorus.carrd.co