Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox is an Australian, Brisbane-based visual artist and researcher. She has a PhD (Humanities) from Curtin University, Western Australia, where she received the Investigating the contemporary aesthetic of militarisation strategic project scholarship. Her creative painting practice-lead research examined the increasing interest militaries are paying to the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), as an enabler of technology, a type of fires (weapon), a manoeuvre space, and a domain. In 2017 Kathryn completed a Master of Philosophy (Research: Cultural Studies/Art History) at the University of Queensland, Australia. She is also currently an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland. 

While interested in militarised technology, Kathryn’s broad interest in technology stems from growing up with a father who, while a grain-grower, was also a keen HAM: amateur radio operator. As a result of growing up with her father and his exemplary kit, Kathryn errs against venerating technological prowess. She is, however, no technophobe. In her paintings she combines these influences with a love of landscape and cosmic skies. Her childhood farm was on the flat naturally treeless black-soil Pirrinuan Plain, between Dalby and Jimbour, Queensland, Australia. It was here, in the vast distance of endless horizons, shimmering mirages and glistening night skies that Kathryn first took imaginational flight. The aerial or cosmic perspective is still evident in her paintings today.

Kathryn has spent a lifetime in the visual arts, holding her first exhibition at the age of 17, completing a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Art History, working in a curatorial capacity at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, before moving to live in western Queensland. Here, she continued to paint, holding her first Brisbane exhibition in 1989. She also immersed herself in local community’s arts and cultural activities. Over the years Kathryn has been shortlisted or has received prizes in numerous art competitions. Since moving to Brisbane in 2000 Kathryn has exhibited her paintings in Australia and overseas. She has also presented about her research, paintings, and creative practice at various Australian and international conferences. These include, amongst others, the International Studies Association annual conference; the Aesthetics of Drone Warfare conference, Sheffield University, UK; and the British International Studies Association annual conference.

Kathryn loves paintings, and she loves thinking! Every painting, however, has a reference point in the landscape of her childhood. This reference point is distance, her childhood playground, and now her adult imaginary.

To see more of Kathryn’s paintings please check out her Instagram and Blog sites, linked below.
Please visit Kathryn’s academic site, linked below, for a list of her publications.