Rotate with Katie Munro
Throughout the coming months we have the pleasure of exhibiting artwork by fine artist Katie Munro, on display until February 2026.
Katie Munro is a fine artist, currently working and living in Portsmouth. She creates drawings and paintings in a variety of different media, such as oil and watercolour paints, charcoal, graphite and pastels.
After graduating with a BA Hons in Drawing and Applied Art at University of the West of England, Munro spent over 5 years working as an industry painter and assistant to artists Damien Hirst and Mat Collishaw. During this time, Katie Munro continued to develop her draughtsmanship and painting techniques in a professional working studio and in her own personal projects. Munro now works as an independent artist at the Hotwalls Studio in Old Portsmouth where she creates and sells her work.
Influences and Inspiration
Movement and performance have always been central to Munro’s creativity. As a child she was drawn to both the stage and the sketchbook, with an early involvement in dance and drama giving her an appreciation of gesture, emotion and the stories that bodies can tell. A key moment in Munro’s artistic development was seeing the work of Degas and Toulouse Lautrec at the Musee d Orsay. Their ability to capture performers and fleeting movement stayed with her. She is also inspired by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, especially their expressive line work and sensitivity to the human figure.
Katie Munro is continually energised by teaching life drawing sessions, which offer endless new ways to understand the figure. Dancers are a particular source of inspiration, and their fluid shapes and expressive energy helped form the foundation for Munro's new series, The Swans.
Materials, Process and Style
Munro works with charcoal, soft pastels and conte crayon, often using her hands to sculpt forms directly from the paper.
She wipes away, layers and redraws, allowing the overlapping marks to become part of the final image and creating a strong sense of movement.
Colour plays an important role in her work. After discovering a set of rich soft pastels, she began using colour to heighten emotion and atmosphere rather than to match reality. Her choices shift the mood of each figure and encourage the viewer to feel the drawing rather than simply observe it.
Although Munro’s work is rooted in close observation, her style has become more relaxed over time. She aims for drawings that feel alive, where accuracy remains present but does not limit the expressive energy of the piece.
Artist’s Perspective
For Munro, drawing is a grounding and absorbing process, a way to focus and find clarity. She describes it as watching something slowly take shape, a practice she returns to again and again.
Munro's favourite work in this exhibition, Reflection, captures many of her core themes. The curled pose creates a gentle, egg like shape that feels balanced on the page. The use of colour and the mirrored form add harmony and depth, making it one of the pieces she feels most connected to.
About the Works in the Exhibition
The Pastel Figures
These works explore the female form through structure, tone and expressive mark making. Munro uses line, mass and shifts in colour to guide the viewer’s eye around the figure, giving each drawing a sculptural presence. The forms often fill the page, creating an immediate sense of connection with the subject.
The Swans
Created especially for CourtX, The Swans is a new series made in conte crayon. Each drawing develops through overlapping poses that change as Munro works, creating flowing, interwoven lines that feel both clear and mysterious. The figures appear to move across the page, embodying the idea of transition, rhythm and fleeting energy.
www.katiemunroart.co.uk
@katie_munro_art
About the Project
ROTATE is an initiative of the CourtX Community Programme. Artwork is exhibited across the first floor of the pavilion and is rotated throughout the year. The ROTATE programme invites artists to exhibit existing works that showcase a wide range of styles, offering members of the CourtX community an informal and relaxed way to experience art while enjoying the venue’s facilities.
For Artist Enquiries Contact Curator - info@finelineart.com
