Katja is a multidisciplinary designer and and artist based on Dharawal Country in the Illawarra, NSW. With a background in set and costume design (BA Hons Theatre Design, Central Saint Martin’s College London), her practice spans theatre, film, visual arts, performance and events, unified by a deep commitment to storytelling and architectural and material exploration.
She fell in love with leather as a working material while working in costume props on films such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Fury Road and during COVID received a grant from Create NSW to up-skill in luxury leather craft.
In 2019 she opened Kattasche [Kat for Katja + tasche, German for bag], small atelier for fine leather goods in Port Kembla.
She is very passionate about sharing and preserving traditional skills as well as experimenting with new ones and is a very experienced workshop tutor.
She is currently a casual lecturer at Wollongong University and a workshop tutor for Belvoir Theatre's educational program.