Text - Interviews and writing about my practice and work.

I was selected for Digswell Arts Artist of the Month web feature in August 2025. A version of this article appeared on the Digswell Arts website. Further information about DAT at www.digswellarts.org.

Katy Cook is an artist whose practice is rooted in drawing but extends into collage, monoprint, and three-dimensional forms. Describing her approach as a “hybrid practice”, she combines the traditions of drawing with an exploratory engagement in craft processes, placing great importance on the sense of touch and materiality in an increasingly digital age. Her work often draws on themes from nature, texture, and found objects, creating dialogues between simple shapes and complex narratives.

In this interview, Katy discusses her current projects, the inspirations that have shaped her artistic journey, and how being part of the Digswell Arts community has strengthened her practice.

How would you describe your current practice (e.g. materials, techniques, themes, key questions, approach)?

My practice is rooted in drawing.  I am currently making collage, monoprint and pushing the work towards sculpture with three dimensional drawings.  Probably explaining my approach as  hybrid practice is a good definition.  There’s a traditional drawing core with an exploration of craft processes attached.  I think the sense of touch is important to me in my work.  I feel a sense of anchoring in seeking to understand a variety of materials, especially in this digitally-driven age.

I have amassed a large reference of photos and notes over the last few years which I am returning to and pulling out themes.  Nature is always present, as is surface and texture, unusual objects or shapes.  I am interested in how simple shape can evoke more complex stories and how a dialogue forms between shapes collected and marks made.

What are you working on at the moment (forthcoming exhibitions, events, workshops etc)?

I’m digging deeper into my archive to develop my practice.  I really think that art practice is more looping and squiggly than linear.  It’s creative exploration viewed from many different angles at different times.

I have been making collage on paper and board which has allowed me to collect fragments from the natural and human world to create accumulations of shape and marks.  I will be making more of this work which I think will increase in scale.   I’ve also been making cut-out drawings which I have mounted on the wall so that they sit somewhere between drawing and sculpture.  The plan is to keep going with theses as I enjoy the hybrid nature of them.

My Dad is living with dementia and I have had the opportunity to go through some of his collections of ephemera.  He was an avid collector of letters, postcards and engravings.  You can hold a letter, which might be 100 years old, in your hand but tweets, posts and texts have no tangibility at all.  This has given me an insight into the materiality of everyday items which I am sure will feed into future projects.

What is the question you get asked about your work and how do you answer it?

At DAT Open Studio this year, some people commented that my graphite cut-out work ‘Mineralise’, looked like it was made of metal.  I realised how much I like to change the nature of paper through the type of media used or change perception of material by the way that a work is presented.  I also had some lovely conversations about media and how visitors use them in their art.

What or who inspired you to be an artist and why?

I have always loved making things and have been fortunate to meet very generous artists and creative people along the way.  Having said that, I was a late-starter to a committed art practice and worked in a variety of other professions before I engaged with art more fully.

As a child my mum encouraged me and my sister to make and draw.  We did a lot of sticking pasta and lentils to sugar paper (it was the 80s!).  My friend’s mum, Linda, is an artist and encouraged my creativity with watercolour lessons and trips to museums.

I think going to art school as a mature student has been an amazing experience.  All the artists there were generous with their time, skills and critique.  I hope that I’ve learned from them that exploring and enabling creativity is important and empowering.  And I hope to share that with others too.

Which artist do you most admire and why?

There’s loads of artists who I really love - to many to list.  The artist in my mind at the moment the most though is Louise Nevelson (1899 - 1988).  It's the shallow space of her monotone sculptures which is really speaking to me and also her collage work.  Dorothy Hood (1918 - 2000) is an artist who I have only just discovered.  She made collage which she used as source material for large paintings.  The translation between collage shape and painted one is intriguing to me.  I think I’m particularly interested in female American artists working around the 1960s.

How has your relationship with Digswell Arts strengthened your practice as an artist?

The Digswell community is lovely.  It's great to be surrounded by other artists and those who are involved with DAT.  I think finishing art school and then starting to work as an artist by yourself is a challenge.  I was nervous of losing the art school community which had supported me through my degree.  It's been wonderful to meet those involved in DAT and get to know them over the last couple of years.

Open Studios is a great event to meet the local community, other artists, neighbours, those involved with the Welwyn Festival and friends of DAT.  Talking about art and making is a great way to connect with people.  Conversations about creativity can be so inspiring and uplifting.

Having a studio at The Forge gives me space and time to make, think and work through my projects, for which I am very grateful.