Catherine Chinatree

Catherine Chinatree

From Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament

March 6, 2026 · 1h 8m · Season 27 · Episode 3

About this episode

Catherine Chinatree discusses her multi-disciplinary art that explores identity, cultural fluidity, and the urban experience.

Catherine Chinatree is a socially engaged multi-disciplinary artist based in Margate. She works in various contexts, including in the public realm. Her work focuses on the idea of shared “reality,” with an emphasis on identity, dualism, and cultural fluidity. This exploration is supported by research in anthropology, social surrealism, and human behaviour. Being of Welsh, Caribbean and Irish descent, she is deeply rooted in hybrid culture and seeks inspiration from the outside world of everyday life, our daily activities, symbolism, rituals, and the people she meets. Chinatree’s recent series of works invites the viewers on a visual journey through the realms of personal and subcultures exploring ideas of youth, class, memory and nostalgia, it highlights optimism & transformative moments that can alter society.   Chinatree aims to evoke a palette that reflects the bass-heavy underground movement, artificial lighting and a sense of the unknown going hand in hand with the uncertainty of teenage years. At that time, pioneers of a new music genre looked to the future, with nods to outer space, and ideas of otherworldly beings, all of which are reflected in…

People in this episode

Hosts: Russell Tovey, Robert Diament

Guest: Catherine Chinatree

Topics covered

  • socially engaged art
  • identity
  • cultural fluidity
  • youth culture
  • urban experience
  • sound system culture

Keywords

  • Catherine Chinatree
  • social surrealism
  • hybrid culture
  • memory
  • nostalgia
  • urban experience
  • sound system culture
  • youth
  • identity

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Margate, Wales, Caribbean, Ireland, urban Britain

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