Kate Murdoch’s work is created through a process of distillation. Her linear abstractions are like a prism through which can be seen the essence of the original subject matter. From multiple close-up photographs of foliage she creates studies which are used in the initial stages of the paintings. These are subsequently discarded and the work gradually emerges in its own way.

The work communicates on two levels. Firstly, as the aforementioned essence of the subject. Secondly, as the rest of the work is instinctive it is a means for the subconscious to find expression. Kandinsky is an inspiration both aesthetically and due to the fact that he drew on similar concepts in his work. He is quoted as saying “The art work is born from the inner necessity of the artist in a mysterious, enigmatic and mystic way, and then it acquires an autonomous life; it becomes an independent subject animated by a spiritual breath."