Te Whare Hēra is excited to welcome Cat Auburn and Christine Borland to the residency in collaboration with the upcoming exhibition Approaching Home opening at Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History. Cat has arrived in Aotearoa, and Christine will be participating virtually from the artists’ home in Argyll, Scotland.

Cat Auburn is an artist from Aotearoa based in Argyll, Scotland. Cat’s art practice (sculpture, textile, film, event, and writing) focuses on how cultural heritage is constructed, reinforced, and strategically employed. Artistic ‘making’ is how she explores complex interrelational dynamics between ‘self’ and ‘culture’, local and global, policymaking and those subject to policy. Her projects are developed in co-production with various collaborators, including: rural and equestrian communities; textile practitioners; heritage industry workers. Cat enjoys developing and delivering ambitious artistic projects that support both collaborators and authenticating audiences to engage in active questioning through artistic materials and practices. 

In 2023 Cat completed a practice-based PhD at Northumbria University, supported by an AHRC Northern Bridge Consortium studentship. Cat is the co-editor of the Special Issue of the journal Arts, titled Autotheory in Contemporary Visual Arts Practice. Residencies include RSA Scotland (UK, 2024); D6 Culture in Transit (UK, 2019); Tyneside Cinema (UK, 2016); Tylee Cottage Artist Residency (NZ, 2014/15). Olivia Spencer Bower Fellowship (NZ, 2010).