ABOUT
Oh hey, I’m Kat.
I’m a visual artist, muralist and designer based in Naarm/Melbourne, working across studio painting, large-scale murals and the occasional project that gets wildly out of hand.
I grew up in Thirroul, a small coastal town on Dharawal Country, where the ocean was always nearby and salt seemed to settle on absolutely everything. I think growing up there is probably responsible for a lot of what I make now.
I’m fascinated by place, memory and nostalgia, particularly the way ordinary places become incredibly important once they’re attached to the people and experiences we love.
A weatherboard house. A swimming hole. The corner shop. A backyard chair that's been there forever. The beach you went to every summer.
Individually, they can seem completely unremarkable. But give them enough time and they become part of the story of who we are.
That’s the stuff I like to paint.
THE WORK
Painting places as I remember them.
My studio practice is grounded in painting, using bold colour, simplified forms and playful compositions to explore landscapes and everyday environments.
I’m not particularly interested in making a perfect record of a place. I'm interested in what happens to it after we've remembered it for a while.
Memory edits things.
Certain colours become brighter. Tiny details become strangely important. Other things disappear completely. A place can become warmer, funnier, bigger or more beautiful in our minds than it ever was in reality.
I like working somewhere in that gap.
My paintings often move between the real and the remembered: Australian landscapes, beaches, bushland, houses, holiday spots and those wonderfully ordinary details that somehow become the things we hold onto.
Colour is a huge part of that language. I use it instinctively and often exaggerate it, not necessarily to describe what something looked like, but to get closer to what it felt like to be there.
FROM CANVAS TO WALLS
Eventually, painting on canvas wasn't quite enough.
My practice expanded into murals and public art, allowing the same ideas I explore in the studio to exist at an entirely different scale.
I love that murals belong to a place.
You can't completely separate the artwork from the wall, the street, the building or the people walking past it every day. That relationship has led me to work with communities, businesses and organisations to create site-specific pieces that respond to their surroundings.
Sometimes that means painting a giant exterior wall. Sometimes it means working with children to create something for their community. Sometimes apparently it means painting an entire house.
Which brings me to…
SIDE QUEST STORIES
In 2026, I transformed an entire house into an immersive artwork for Side Quest Stories.
What began as an ambitious painting project became an exploration of something much bigger: creativity, storytelling, recovery and the unexpected things people find that help them move through difficult periods of their lives.
Alongside the physical transformation of the house, Side Quest Stories became a documentary project sharing the stories of women who have used creative pursuits as a way to rebuild, reconnect and find something of themselves again.
Painting an entire building changed the way I thought about my own practice too.
It reinforced something I'd been circling for years: places aren't passive.
They hold things.
Memories, people, histories, beginnings, endings — and sometimes entirely new chapters.
A LITTLE MORE OFFICIALLY…
Artist Bio
Kat Tillman (b. 1989, Wollongong) is a Naarm/Melbourne-based visual artist, muralist and designer whose practice explores place, memory and nostalgia through painting and large-scale public art.
Growing up in the coastal town of Thirroul, NSW, Tillman developed an enduring connection to landscape and the way places become intertwined with memory. Her work is characterised by bold colour, playful forms and a distinctly Australian visual language, moving between beaches, bushland, homes, wildlife and the familiar details of everyday life.
Tillman has presented three solo exhibitions in Melbourne — Just a While Longer (2022), Plenty of Time (2023) and Long Drives and Salty Snacks (2024) — alongside group exhibitions, commissioned work and an extensive body of murals and public artworks.
Her multidisciplinary practice extends across illustration, design and socially engaged work, including Side Quest Stories(2026), an immersive whole-house artwork and documentary project exploring creativity, storytelling and recovery.
Tillman holds a Bachelor of Applied Design from Billy Blue College of Design, where she later lectured in User-Centred Design and Design Thinking.
AND THE LESS OFFICIAL VERSION…
When I'm not painting, I'm usually thinking about painting.
I'm drawn to colour, old houses, Australian landscapes, things with a bit of wonk, excellent signage, people's oddly specific stories and places that feel like they've been properly lived in.
I believe art can be meaningful without being miserable, nostalgia doesn't have to be beige, and sometimes the most ordinary places make the best paintings.
My work has taken me from tiny pieces of paper to very large walls — and, somehow, to every surface of an entire house.
I'm still curious about where it might take me next.
If you've got a wall, a place, a story or an idea you'd like to talk about, I'd love to hear it.
CV
EDUCATION
2014
Bachelor of Applied Design, Billy Blue College of Design
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Long Drives and Salty Snacks — Melbourne, VIC
2023
Plenty of Time — Melbourne, VIC
2022
Just a While Longer — Melbourne, VIC
SELECTED PROJECTS & PUBLIC ART
2026
Side Quest Stories — Creator & Lead Artist, Warrandyte, VIC
Latrobe Community Health Service — Churchill, VIC
Rochester Hotel — Fitzroy, VIC
Strawberry Fields Festival — Tocumwal, NSW
Selected previous projects
Women's Health Clinic
Barnagnen Youth Residential Centre
Lucky Schmucks
WHR Allied Health
Strong Street
St Davids Street
Loch Hart
Eddy Gardens
Little Wine shop
The Rochester Hotel
SELECTED COLLABORATIONS & CLIENTS
Canva
Dulux
Camilla
Yours & Owls Festival
Bells at Killcare
What Were You Wearing Australia
Ocean Mind
Art x Scrubs Australia
Yuki Threads
Wet Dog
ILLUSTRATION
Marco's Daydream — Children's book illustration
Veraison Magazine — Article Illustrations
PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA
Artist Profile
Veraison Magazine
Geelong Advertiser
TEACHING
2016–2017
Lecturer — User-Centred Design & Design Thinking
Billy Blue College of Design
2025
Workshop organiser/instructor — Barnagnen Youth Residential Centre
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
VIVID Ideas Designers Den — Winner
Young Entrepreneurs Grant — Recipient