Katrien Bové

Visual artist

Kat Bové is the artist name under which Katrien Bové presents her work. She studied Painting at St. Lucas in Ghent and graduated in 2006 as a Master in Fine Arts. To give herself financial breathing room, Kat has been combining her drawing skills with a job as a long-haul flight attendant (Brussels Airlines) for 14 years. This job has not slowed down her artwork; in fact, it has artistically enriched her work. Her pen, paper, ink, and paint always travel with her. This makes the airplane, the countries where she lands, and the airports part of her traveling studio, and these places deeply influence the essence of her drawings. She consistently draws what she sees: flight attendants onboard, friends in cafés, herself in the mirror of her hotel room, and she always lets the environment enter her studio.

Kat Bové’s work is built on three pillars:

1) Aviation: Her (observational) drawings onboard.
2) Nudes: Nude model drawings (from a live model). According to Kat, ‘the nude body is the source and the beginning of everything.’
3) Selfies: The self-portraits are Kat’s most intimate works. The self-portrait has fascinated Kat since her student years at St. Lucas, and she even used it as the basis for her thesis. By artistically examining and continuously documenting/illustrating herself, she attempts to explore and reveal the boundary between appearance and reality, between humor and melancholy.