South African visual artist Catherine Ocholla

Catherine Ocholla

Cape Town | 15 artworks for sale

  • Déjà Vu - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Déjà Vu
    Painting / 42 x 21 cm
    R7 000
  • All Roads #3 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla All Roads #3
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R3 800
  • All Roads #6 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla All Roads #6
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R3 800
  • All Roads #5 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla All Roads #5
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R3 800
  • All Roads #4 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla All Roads #4
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R3 800
  • All Roads #8 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla All Roads #8
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R3 800
  • Rapture - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Rapture
    Painting / 166 x 54 cm
    R39 000
  • The Island I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla The Island I
    Painting / 21 x 21 cm
    R4 000
  • The Island II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla The Island II
    Painting / 21 x 21 cm
    R4 000
  • Meme #1: Arcane - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Meme #1: Arcane
    Painting / 41 x 32 cm
    R9 500
  • Meme #2: Future Liaison - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Meme #2: Future Liaison
    Painting / 72 x 42 cm
    R19 500
  • Wormhole #9 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Wormhole #9
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
    R9 500
  • Wormhole #7 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Wormhole #7
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
    R9 500
  • Wormhole #1 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Wormhole #1
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
    R9 500
  • Wormhole #6 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla Wormhole #6
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
    R9 500
  • Meme #3: A River Runs Through It - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Meme #3: A River Runs Through It
    Painting / 41 x 31 cm
  • All Roads #2 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    All Roads #2
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Fault Lines - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Fault Lines
    Painting / 126 x 96 cm
  • All Roads #10 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    All Roads #10
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • All Roads #7 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    All Roads #7
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • All Roads #9 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    All Roads #9
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • All Roads #1 - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    All Roads #1
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Rückenfigur II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Rückenfigur II
    Painting / 63 x 35 cm
  • Rückenfigur I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Rückenfigur I
    Painting / 63 x 35 cm
  • Nu Pogodi! - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Nu Pogodi!
    Painting / 21 x 21 cm
  • Fairy Tales - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Fairy Tales
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
  • Aperture - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Aperture
    Painting / 34 x 34 cm
  • Lucid Dream - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Lucid Dream
    Painting / 73 x 43 cm
  • Slivers - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Slivers
    Painting / 41 x 31 cm
  • Displacement II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Displacement II
    Painting / 22 x 22 cm
  • Reflection II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Reflection II
    Painting / 22 x 22 cm
  • Displacement I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Displacement I
    Painting / 22 x 22 cm
  • Reflection I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Reflection I
    Painting / 22 x 22 cm
  • Tendrils - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Tendrils
    Painting / 42 x 34 cm
  • Continuum III - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Continuum III
    Painting / 24 x 24 cm
  • Adrift I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Adrift I
    Painting / 44 x 74 cm
  • Adrift II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Adrift II
    Painting / 44 x 74 cm
  • Adrift IV - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Adrift IV
    Painting / 22 x 22 cm
  • Adrift III - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Adrift III
    Painting / 74 x 44 cm
  • The Robot And I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    The Robot And I
    Painting / 38 x 37 cm
  • Continuum II - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Continuum II
    Painting / 34 x 24 cm
  • Lifting The Veil - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Lifting The Veil
    Painting / 74 x 44 cm
  • Suspended - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Suspended
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
  • Crossing Over - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Crossing Over
    Painting / 41 x 33 cm
  • Into The Night - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Into The Night
    Painting / 41 x 70 cm
  • The Onlooker - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    The Onlooker
    Painting / 40 x 33 cm
  • In The Land Of.....I - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    In The Land Of.....I
    Painting / 77 x 47 cm
  • Twilight - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Twilight
    Painting / 67 x 47 cm
  • Elysium - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Elysium
    Painting / 50 x 47 cm
  • The Vigil - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    The Vigil
    Painting / 57 x 47 cm
  • Confession At Midnight - Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Confession At Midnight
    Painting / 61 x 51 cm
  • Karoo Scene II - Karoo Landscape Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Karoo Scene II
    Karoo Landscape Painting / 77 x 47 cm
  • Se Potessero I Sospir Miei ('if only my sighs') - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Se Potessero I Sospir Miei ('if only my sighs')
    Oil Painting / 73 x 53 cm
  • Longing - Cloudscape Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Longing
    Cloudscape Painting / 66 x 46 cm
  • Karoo Scene I - Karoo Landscape Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Karoo Scene I
    Karoo Landscape Painting / 128 x 47 cm
  • Amor Ti Vieta (‘love forbids you’)  - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Amor Ti Vieta (‘love forbids you’)
    Oil Painting / 58 x 48 cm
  • Con Te Partiro (‘with you I will leave’) - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Con Te Partiro (‘with you I will leave’)
    Oil Painting / 73 x 53 cm
  • Dies Bildnis Ist Bezaubernd Schön (‘this image is enchantingly lovely’) - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Dies Bildnis Ist Bezaubernd Schön (‘this image is enchantingly lovely’)
    Oil Painting / 53 x 73 cm
  • Svegliatevi Nel Core (‘awaken in my heart’) - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Svegliatevi Nel Core (‘awaken in my heart’)
    Oil Painting / 58 x 48 cm
  • Un Bel Di, Vedremo (‘One fine day, we will see’) - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Un Bel Di, Vedremo (‘One fine day, we will see’)
    Oil Painting / 58 x 48 cm
  • Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen (‘hells vengeance boils in my heart’) - Oil Painting by Catherine Ocholla
    Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen (‘hells vengeance boils in my heart’)
    Oil Painting / 58 x 48 cm
An exceptional painter, Catherine's primary focus is on the sky as a backdrop to humanity’s (mostly self imposed) dramas, with more environmental undertones that point to issues of global warming, land, pollution, and as a reflection on how we will be remembered by future generations: an attempt to both capture the zeitgeist of this era and imagine different iterations of the future. Like Phillip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids dream of electric sheep’, she leaves these paintings as a warning of what we stand to lose as we continue to take nature for granted; the sky above us now might be the simulated dream of others in years to come.

"I reflect on the nature of everyday - and in my skyscapes I see the deconstructed shapes of things to come and things that have been - my own veritable Sky News" - Catherine Ocholla

MA Fine Art (The Michaelis School Of Art)

Catherine Ocholla was born in Kenya in 1983. She grew up in South Africa and graduated with a BA degree in Fine Art at the University of Cape Town in 2007, and a Master's degree in Fine Art in 2022.  Her professional career spans 15 years during which she immersed herself in a number of art related projects that include the curation of group events and the participation in solo and group exhibitions.


Selected Exhibitions:

2023
Time & Tide Wait For No Man - group exhibition, StateoftheART Gallery, Cape Town
Cubicle Series - group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

2022
The Sky Is Falling -  an exhibition of works produced as part of the requirements for a postgraduate degree at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.

2020
Solo Exhibition, The Space Between, 29 April - 16 May 2020, StateoftheART Gallery Online

2018
Group Show, Super Nature, 7th June - 23rd June, State of the Art Gallery, Cape Town

2017
Group Show, Trop Comprendre, 3rd October - 30th September, Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery, London
Top 40 Exhibition, Sanlam Portrait Award, Rust en Vrede Gallery, Bellville

2016
Solo Exhibition, Late night, early morning, World Art Gallery, 6th – 27th October
Group Show, Scapes, State of the Art Gallery, Cape Town, 7th – 23rd July
Group Show, Optical Diversion, Eclectica Design and Art, 5th May – 20th July

2015
Solo Exhibition, Barfly, WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town, 1st October – 3rd November
Cape Town Art Fair, WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town, 26th  February – 1st March

2014

Solo Exhibition, ARIA, StateoftheART, Cape Town, 7th - 23rd August
Solo Exhibition, The Trip, World Art Gallery, 2nd – 30th October

2012
Solo Exhibition, Nothing new under the sun, AVA gallery, Cape Town, 4th – 29th June

2011
Group Show, Turpentyn, Artscape Theatre, Cape Town, 25th Jan - 1st Feb

2010
Group Show, Ways of Seeing, Ore Gallery, Cape Town
Group Show, Smogasbord, Wessel Snyman Creative, Cape Town
Group Show, Tretchikoff and me, Salon 91, Cape Town, 23rd June – 31st July
Group Show, Inverting the Pyramid, Blank Projects, Cape Town, 10th June - 10th July
Solo Exhibition, Wise Cracks, Blank Projects, Cape Town, 5th – 29th May

2009
Group Show, History(n), UCA Gallery, Cape Town, 23rd September - 16th October
Curator, Voight-Kampff, UCA Gallery, Cape Town, 29th July - 21st August
Group Show, Nuance, UCA Gallery, Cape Town
Group show, Supermarket, the Muti Gallery, Cape Town

2007
Group show, Michaelis Graduate Show, UCT, Cape Town
Group show, Headlines, African Studies Gallery, UCT, Cape Town

2006
Group Show, The Cape Town International Biennale, Blank Projects, Cape Town

2005
Group Show, Members exhibition, Association for Visual Arts /AVA, Cape Town

2004
Group Show, Can’t we all just get along, Observatory, Cape Town

Which new trends or South African artists do you find inspiring at the moment?
I am thoroughly enjoying the work of Wim Botha - his exhibition at the Norval Foundation was a revelation.

Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
I’ve had a long standing fascination with the work of Robert Hodgins, who passed fairly recently (2010). Sometimes he is described as an English painter, other times he is South African. Based on my reaction to some of the works that I have encountered at the Cape Town Art Fair, I would say he is top of my list at present. His use of colour is off the charts.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
An original work by Lizza Littlewort from her ‘Almost Famous’ exhibition.

How did you get started? Did you always want to be an artist?
Yes and no. There was a push and pull, and then complete submission to the rollercoaster that is art. Trying not to be an artist is like trying not to breathe (and getting choked at the same time).

What are some of the key themes you explore in your work?
When my gaze first shifted upwards, my focus was more existential and internal. This, combined with a great love for portraiture, nature and social commentary, has led to a desire to combine all the above - a form of story telling, commenting on everything from global warming to science fiction, trying to capture the current zeitgeist. The sky is a pretty good character in its own right or green screen for an entirely different story. I like how it is both abstract and literal.

What should people know about your art that they can’t tell from looking at it?
I don’t really have an answer for this one - it’s more about what people tell me they see in the work that often surprises me.

Tell us more about your creative process.
There are two concurrent processes. The first involves taking my own photographs, in so far as this is possible, and the second involves a lot of internet sourcing, news watching, general curiosity about what’s going on out there. I know when I’ve found what I need when I can’t sleep, because my mind literally refuses to switch off. Then there is the actual painting, which can take a day or two, or weeks. Sometimes years of revisiting. I’d sum up my process as extremes of either manic activity or procrastination.

What drives you as an artist?
You have this vision in your head that you wish to manifest into reality - it’s the greatest feeling when this actually happens - pure….everything.

Do you have a favourite or most meaningful work?
From the series Aria, “Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen” (‘hells vengeance boils in my heart’). It was painted with such ease - no conflict or hair pulling - and just made me immediately happy when it was done.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I would say the works that I’ve started recently, are making me really excited. I have yet to achieve my greatest achievement.

What are your aspirations for the future?
I would like to study further at some point and complete a Master’s degree. I would really like to have that time and environment to just really think about my work and develop a number of ideas …. see them to their endgame.