Dr Kate Scardifield’s research occurs at the intersections between material culture studies, material thinking and material futures. She has an internationally recognised creative practice driven by interdisciplinary exchanges that trace materials through various states of transformation, generating different types of encounters with materials and different forms of material knowledge. Her current projects are investigating algae based biopolymers, designing with biomaterials to speculate on future systems for carbon capture and storage, and working with textiles as propositional instruments for navigation, transmission and communication.

Kate is currently the artist in residence at the Climate Change Cluster (C3) and is the Co-Director of the Material Ecologies Design Lab in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at UTS. Her recent projects include FREE/STATE, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia (2022), The lighter a thought the more it rises, Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch, New Zealand (2019); Soft Topologies, UTS Gallery, Sydney (2018); Ley Lines, St Andrews Museum, Hawick Museum, and Calendar House, Scotland, UK (2017); Microgravity, The Powerhouse, Sydney (2017); System of Objects, National Art School, Sydney (2017); When moving through ruins, The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie Regional Gallery, NSW (2016).