Kate Shaw

Kate Shaw is an Australian contemporary artist celebrated for her vibrant, surreal landscapes that merge nature, abstraction, and ecology. Born in Melbourne, she uses experimental materials like poured acrylic, resin, and glitter to create marbled, reflective terrains that mimic geological and atmospheric patterns. Her work explores environmental fragility, climate change, and the spiritual dimensions of nature, offering dreamlike environments that inspire both awe and reflection. Shaw has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, with shows in New York, London, and Hong Kong. Her work is held in major public and private collections. Committed to sustainability, she collaborates with environmental groups and participates in residencies focused on art and ecology, continually pushing the boundaries of landscape painting.

Titled 89 Seconds to Midnight, this circular painting that captures the planet’s precarious state in the face of environmental crisis. The title references the Doomsday Clock, a symbol of how close humanity is to global catastrophe. The artist’s signature marbled technique forms surreal landscapes—fractured mountains, molten lakes, glowing skies—that evoke both natural beauty and environmental breakdown.

Her process, echoing floods, eruptions, and glacial melt, reflects nature’s shifting forms under pressure. Vivid colours and liquid-like textures blur the line between wonder and alarm, urging viewers to confront the fragility of Earth’s ecosystems. The circular format reinforces the idea of cycles—of time, climate, and consequence—underscoring that we are trapped in a loop of destruction and renewal.

By merging the sublime with the ominous, 89 Seconds to Midnight becomes a visual metaphor for this critical juncture. It reminds us that time is running out, but not yet gone.