Alia

Katt is an artist-researcher-practitioner creating strange, playful work shaped by mischief, memory and nature, where reality and fiction blur through mythology and self-reflection. She is undertaking an AHRC-funded CDP PhD at the University of Portsmouth with Portsmouth Natural History Museum, exploring how regional museums can reimagine interactions with natural history collections through participatory creative methods and research-through-design, using emerging technologies within an attunement-led approach. Influenced by poetry, folklore and speculative practice, she brings stories to life through found, stolen and fabricated artefacts, prototypes and sensory encounters, and is drawn to the unreliable narrator as a form of mischief.

I am an illustrator, author and creative practitioner whose compassionate, hand-drawn work explores neurodiversity, mental health, education and the human experience. I have created commissions and talks/workshops for the NHS, Cambridge University, galleries and charities alongside work for children’s books and film development. I also host drawing workshops for young people and adults, combining creative expression with therapeutic practices to explore neurodiversity, identity, emotions and wellbeing. My workshops offer an accessible, thoughtful space to reflect, connect and communicate through drawing and making. I welcome opportunities to collaborate with organisations seeking meaningful, engaging and inclusive creative work.

I’m an artist and creative producer with a wealth of experience of founding arts ventures and running arts venues, programmes, events, exhibitions and festivals – with a focus on fun and innovative approaches to animating underused spaces. Most recently I’ve had the privilege of setting up Saint John’s Arts’ Programme, collaborating with a large Education Trust to provide new exciting opportunities for young people to get involved in the arts in Gosport. I’ve also worked as Producer for Journeys Festival International, and held previous roles at ArtSpace Portsmouth, Liverpool Biennial and founded The Royal Standard (gallery, studios and social workspace), and Mighty Oak Creative Agency.