Cat Lau
Interview & Photography / Catherine Bernier
By day, Cat Lau helps others make sense of the invisible. As a visual science communicator, she works with researchers and people with lived experience to turn complex data into something that feels human — images that make information accessible, stories that bridge science and emotion.
By night, her hands reach for watercolours, paper scraps, markers, and pencils. She calls herself an illustrator and mixed-media artist, but her work sits gently at the intersection of art and care. “Mental health and nature are big inspirations for me,” she says. “I’m often trying to link the two themes in my work.”
When Cat arrived at The Parcelles, she came with plans — large mixed-media landscapes made of cardboard, paper, and paint. But something shifted once she settled into the rhythm of the place. “The theme for my residency revolved around exploration and letting go,” she explains. “I’m usually a planner, and I wanted to intentionally do the opposite — to let my experiences shape the artwork instead of the other way around.”
That intention, she admits, came with a certain unease. “There was a level of imposter syndrome I experienced, especially since I’m not a trained artist. I was questioning myself — if I was an artist, and if I even had permission to be there.”
But slowly, the environment began to answer those doubts. The seaweed strewn across the shore, the weight of the rocks, the movement of the tide — everything became a kind of teacher. “I was enamored by the beach environment and was instantly drawn to the seaweed, the rocks, and the movement of the ocean,” she says. “I tried to bring that into the art I was making — whether it was illustrating Irish moss seaweed or creating geode-like cutouts that were more abstract.”
What emerged was quieter, smaller, and more intuitive than what she had planned. A body of work that reflected the process of listening — to place, to self, and to the spaces in between.
There’s something magical about being almost in the middle of nowhere, taking care of yourself and making art. Maybe it’s that you can be the most you, with no pressures from the outside world. It’s nourishing for the body, mind, and soul.
- Cat Lau
Her time here, she says, gave her courage — to step further into her creative identity and to own the title she once hesitated to claim. “For me, this time to create and to reflect on my own thoughts has given me strength and courage to feel more at home with being called an artist.”
Follow Cat Lau / @cath.makes
Portraits by Catherine Bernier / @cath.be
