goldcat

goldcat is an artist based in Dresden. Born in Germany in 1988 and raised in Kenya, she transitioned to a fine art practice around 2021. This decision followed a period working in engineering and later as a freelance illustrator for books and games. Her practice now bridges analogue and digital methods, encompassing charcoal drawing, sculpture in clay and bronze, and digital painting. She has been included in exhibitions with Christie's, Art Basel and miart Milano.

A consistent discipline of life drawing provides the foundation for her work, with charcoal remaining a core medium for artistic development. Her digital paintings are constructed through a deliberate process. She begins by assembling research files of anatomical references and colour combinations, which inform a preliminary composition created in grey scale to establish light and contrast. Colour is then built up in careful layers. Beyond direct painting, goldcat investigates procedural art. In some series, she subjects a single source drawing to a variety of rule based operations, from algorithmic transformations to repeated digital degradation. This method shifts the creative focus from the mark of the hand to the system that generates the final image.

The human figure is a central and recurring subject, used as a vehicle to explore what the artist describes as an 'emotional physique'. Works such as `Magda seated` and `The Swimmer` test how bodies appear under different material and psychological states. This places her work in a lineage of figurative art while engaging with contemporary processes. Her interest in early computer artists like Vera Molnár connects her procedural work to a history of systematic art making. Other works address specific subjects directly, with titles like `Live Stream Genocide` or `Price or Value` offering critical commentary on social conditions and the art economy.