Catriona Pollard
Catriona Pollard is an international award-winning contemporary fibre artist whose sculptural practice transforms foraged plant fibres and reclaimed metals into intricate works. Her sculptures explore the invisible systems that connect people, place and the natural world.
Catriona Pollard, contemporary weaving practitioner
Raised in regional New South Wales, Catriona spent her childhood exploring bushland, waterways and natural environments. Those early experiences sparked a lifelong curiosity about the patterns, rhythms and resilience of ecological systems.
Greeting the Dawn, 2025
Copper, textile thread
She describes her path to art not as a single defining moment but as a gradual realisation that working with her hands, exploring materials and connecting with the natural world was something she needed to do. Weaving became the way she could explore and express that connection.
“There is something deeply meditative about the repetitive process of weaving. It requires patience, curiosity and a willingness to let the material guide you.”
Catriona interprets traditional basketry and weaving techniques through an experimental sculptural approach. Working with foraged and invasive plant materials alongside reclaimed copper, she embraces the inherent character of each material, letting its structure, history and movement shape the work. Rather than imposing a fixed outcome, she responds intuitively to the form and behaviour of her materials.
The resulting sculptures hold a tension between strength and fragility, permanence and impermanence. Repetitive woven structures and the play of shadow evoke the unseen networks that sustain ecosystems, revealing the fragile yet enduring relationships between people, materials and living systems.
For Catriona, craft has become far more than a way of making objects. It is a language for exploring our relationship with the natural world, ecological resilience and the invisible connections that hold things together.
Catriona has presented multiple solo exhibitions and been selected for numerous group and touring exhibitions throughout Australia. She has been a winner and finalist in significant awards including the Australian Textile Art Award, International Art Textile Biennale, National Capital Art Prize, Environmental Art & Design Award, North Sydney Art Prize, Australian Fibre Art Award and the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize.
Her residencies include the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence at Tweed Regional Gallery, Primrose Park Artist Studios and the inaugural Capella Sydney Artist in Residence. Her work is held in galleries, high-end design spaces and private collections, and she has appeared on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia, been featured in Good Weekend and is profiled in the book Woven Together: Weavers and Their Stories.
An internationally recognised educator, Catriona has taught sculptural basketry for more than 15 years. She leads sold-out workshops across Australia and internationally, teaches for leading design and craft organisations, presents artist talks and demonstrations, and founded the School of Basketry Art, where she teaches students from around the world.
Catriona sees the future of Australian craft as rich with possibility. In a fast-paced, increasingly digital world, she believes making by hand offers a valuable connection to materials, place, time and the human experience.
For craft to thrive, she argues, we need to invest in the people and structures that sustain it: affordable studio spaces, strong craft education, exhibition and professional development opportunities, and pathways to viable long-term practices. She would love to see Australian craft recognised not as a separate or secondary discipline, but as an essential part of our contemporary cultural landscape.
“It holds knowledge of the past while continually finding new ways to respond to the present. Its future lies in that capacity to evolve, connect and remind us of the value of making with care.”
https://www.instagram.com/catrionapollard/ | https://theartofweaving.com.au/