Catherine Long explores the physicality of paint and the expressive power of colour. Drawing from her background in Contemporary Dance, Long's work channels movement into mark-making, where the sweep of the arm and the rhythm of the body become integral to the act of painting. Her canvases are immersive and dynamic, exploring the visceral impact of gesture, rhythm, and haptic sensation. By foregrounding the embodied experience of perception, Long invites viewers into a sensorial engagement, drawing them into a richly layered world of patina,movement and emotional resonance.

Central to Long’s practice is an exploration of how colour and form can evoke sensation and mood. In her oil paintings, luminous passages of soft oranges, yellows, and smudged teal collide with deeper, earthier tones and more forceful gestures. There is an ongoing push and pull between opacity and transparency, density and breath - a rhythm that echoes her training in dance. Long builds-up the paint in a way that mirrors the body’s own accumulations of experience. Each surface becomes a script of movement and revision, where traces of earlier gestures remain visible beneath new layers, creating complex compositions that invite the viewer to participate in the process of meaning-making.

The sensuous tactility of Long’s brushwork - ranging from broad, fluid washes to abrupt slashes and smears - conjures a bodily presence on the canvas. Yet her marks, while evocative of physical motion, also seem to drift into a more atmospheric, almost dreamlike space. This tension between the rawness of material and the ephemerality of sensation gives her paintings a distinctive charge. Long’s extensive education in both dance and Fine Art has provided her with a unique perspective on the relationship between the body, movement, and image-making, allowing her to craft works that pulse with energy while inviting moments of contemplation.