About
Values
Empathy, openness and cooperation are at the heart of my artist/teacher practice. My planning and delivery of programmes draw upon these values, which are necessary to build energetic and authentic creative experiences. This emphasis on Whanaungatanga drives me to prioritise accessible, playful activities through which participants can make connections with ideas and each other.
My practice is supported also through a connection to the natural world, particularly the whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand. As kaitiaki, participants are empowered to explore this connection in their use of materials, waste creation and through their meaning making. Kaitiakitanga provides a long term lens through which my artist/teacher practice operates, positioning us all as guardians of our natural, social and artistic communities.
CREATIVE PROCESS
Working to a creative process means time and space is dedicated for people to explore ideas and materials, experiment with different techniques, refine their creations and share their stories.
During this process creators are supported to take risks. Rather than focus on a predetermined outcome, they are invited to seek out surprise and take time to reflect on their meaning-making journey.
My name is Mindy Catt, an artist/teacher working and living in West Auckland. I have a background in photography, with a fine arts degree from Whitecliffe School of Arts and Design. I am also a qualified secondary school teacher, and have worked in the arts community for about 15 years, teaching process-based art-making and visual language to preschoolers, school kids, teenagers, adults and the elderly. In 2021 I completed a masters in social and community leadership, focusing on arts education, and I continue to research the connections between art and well-being in New Zealand communities.
As a photographer I work with light, often captured using alternative processes, projections and collage. I use natural materials, dyes and inks, and love the play between written and visual language. I am inspired by Aotearoa New Zealand's natural world, scientifically, symbolically and spiritually. I approach teaching as a creative endeavour, and students as my collaborators.
I have two kids, one cats, four guinea pigs and one husband. We all live in the bush in Oratia, along with the kererū, riroriro, tūī and ruru.