During her time at art college, Kathy found the time to travel widely, and much of the inspiration for her work was a result of these journeys. In 2005 Kathy travelled to Japan for six weeks, where she undertook work experience with jeweller Mizuko Yamada, and spent two weeks travelling through the country by herself.

While Kathy harboured a fascination for the deep sea environment for many years, this interest was consolidated by visiting the vast Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, as well as the Kaiyukan aquarium in Osaka, one of the largest in the world.

The colours, textures and patterns of raw fish and the innards of shells, as well as displays of fragile jellyfish, insectoid giant spider crabs and vibrantly patterned octopi inspired Kathy to develop a process with which to create brightly coloured silicone shapes that are embossed with delicate surface patterns.
These shapes form an essential part of Kathy's work, and are reminiscent of deep sea creatures in both texture and transparency.