Cathy Staughton

A prolific and accomplished artist, Cathy Staughton’s distinctive personal style speaks volumes through her clear, quick and direct way of working; her paintings and drawings acting as a barometer for her happiness, sadness, dreams and desires. Symbolic characters such as robots and saintly figures embellished with Staughton’s vivid and idiosyncratic imagination appear time and again, often reflecting a distinct good-bad dichotomy. Staughton also maintains a life-long fascination with Luna Park due to family connections and endless childhood memories. Overtones of humour, pathos and nostalgia endow Staughton’s work with gravitas. The compelling and often poignant capturing of moments render the alternate reality created by Staughton magnetic. Cathy Staughton has worked in the Arts Project Australia studio since 1989. She has had four solo exhibitions at Arts Project (‘Cathy Staughton’s Wondrous Imaginarium’, 2013; ‘Cathy Staughton Solo’, 2010; ‘Good Dream – Bad Dream’, 2000; and ‘Danse Macabre’, 1998) as well as a solo exhibition at MADMusée, Liège, Belgium in 2002. Staughton has also exhibited in numerous group exhibitions including ‘Melbourne Art Fair’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne; ‘Renegades: Outsider Art’, KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns; and ‘Exhibition #4’, Museum of Everything, London. Her work is held in the MADMusée’s collection.