Kitty Reeves-Short

2024 Platform Awardee Kitty Reeves-Short makes work that centres around analogue, hand-rendered processes and materiality, with a strong emphasis on archival materials, photo manipulation, and printed matter.

We caught up with Kitty to find out about her first year after graduation from the University of Brighton.

I think it’s important to have a good support system and reach out to people doing things you admire

Kitty Reeves-Short

You can find out more about Kitty’s work here

Transcript:

Hello, I’m Kitty, a graphic design graduate who studied in Brighton and won the CVAN and Phoenix Art Space Platform Graduate Award 2024 along with some other brilliant artists. 

My practice is deeply rooted in all things analogue and the materiality of craft. My interests lie in the natural landscape and storytelling; uncovering untold stories and breathing new life into things that might be forgotten or discarded. 

I fell in love with the art of bookbinding and screen printing during my degree which is how I created Avebury Traces; an artistic response to Avebury Stone Circle the world’s largest megalithic henge monument.

Winning the CVAN award has been instrumental in how I view myself as a creative. I’ve been fortunate enough to have bespoke mentoring sessions with a range of brilliant practitioners through the award which has helped hugely in how to articulate and express my practice. 

Post graduation is notoriously a tricky time, especially as a young creative. I’m currently balancing between trying to earn to pay my rent and upkeep my art practice. Fortunately I have a lot of creative friends in my circle and so I’ve been getting involved in commissions and collaborations to build my network and portfolio. 

I think it’s important to have a good support system and reach out to people doing things you admire. I’m excited to continue my practice making more physical things and getting involved with more creative projects. 

Read more about the Platform Graduate Award here