SCOUT ARTIST ROTATION - Kate Paea

Meet Kate Paea- our latest featured artist in the Scout Marrickville Artist Rotation. Her vibrant, textured pieces are now filling our studio walls, drawing inspiration from memory, place, and moments that stick.

We sat down with Kate to hear about her journey, her creative process, and how her work found a home at Scout - and everything that inspired Kate along the way.

Tell us a little bit about you and how long you’ve been coming to Scout

I first came into Scout at the beginning of 2020 during lockdown and started taking Camille’s yoga classes. At the time, I was going through a hard patch and was craving a reflective space and community. Scout became that for me. The girls here welcomed me in, and it was such a great space to just show up and practice. I did a lot of healing in those walls. I kept coming while I was pregnant - to yoga, a little reformer, and the prenatal nights - which turned out to be this beautiful mix of connection and meeting the right people who ended up supporting me through pregnancy and into motherhood. Anyway - big fan, love the gals and the space.

Can you share a little bit more of your background and your passion for art?

It’s difficult for me to stop once I get stuck into a project - just ask my husband (probably to my own detriment!). I also work as a graphic designer, but I like to balance that out by making with my hands. I started sculpting and painting around the same time, and I think my sculptural work really shaped how I paint - I’m into big colours and textures, often mixed with a focus on forms and emotions. When I couldn’t be in the ceramics studio as much, I started focusing more on getting my paintings out into the world. It’s nice to see how they’ve come together and the reception they’ve had. What a warm audience a bunch of Pilates girlies can be! Must be all the endorphins.

Please tell us more about your pieces on display in the Marrickville studio - what was your inspiration & how did they come to life?

My work always circles back to memory and place - the little moments that stick, the feeling of home, and how those ideas can be both comforting and complicated. I’m drawn to colour as a way of holding those feelings, layering paint and texture so it feels a bit like little parts of me - patchy, soft, sometimes sharp. This collection has a lot of the coastline in it too - light, water, horizon lines - mixed with pieces of my own story.

Do you have a favourite piece in this collection? What makes it special to you?

Definitely the big one, Tender. I made it during and after having my son, Charlie, and it’s soaked in all those emotions - exhaustion, joy, love, vulnerability, and a whole lot of growth. It means a lot to me that it found its home at Scout, because I know I can always drop by and see it. I hope that when people are in their practice, it gives them a moment of connection too.

What’s your ideal day when you’re not working on your pieces?

A perfect day would start with a morning class, then heading to the beach with my fam. In the afternoon, I’d try to grab some time for myself - maybe a wine with a friend, a massage, or a few quiet hours in the studio. I try to find little pockets of peace in the chaos, and yoga helps me reset for the week. Am I allowed to end the day with a quick flight to Europe? Now that’s ideal.

Where can we find you if people want to see more of your work??

You can find me on Instagram at @katepaea or at katepaea.com — that’s where I share what I’m working on, bits of studio life, and the occasional upcoming classes I teach. If a piece really stays with you, I’d love to chat - it means the world when something I’ve made has an impact like that on someone in the community.

Check out Kate’s incredible pieces at Scout Studios Marrickville until the end of August.