CREATIVE SPOTLIGHT: KATE ROBERTS
Kate earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia; the same institute that trained Cate Blanchett, Sam Worthington, Michael Wilkinson, Baz Lurhmann and Catherine Martin. She would later work with Baz and CM on Elvis, In the Heights, Chanel No. 5, the film, and the Faena Hotel remodel in Miami.
Kate spent the first half of her career building her own creative studio. Kate felt it situated me best to experience as many different clients, mediums, and platforms as possible. It provided a menagerie of creative opportunities, and more importantly, responsibilities. Building something of her own meant she couldn’t just be the designer anymore - as anyone who’s done it themselves will know, you’re also the accountant, the landlord, the office manager, and the salesperson.
You are the CEO and everyone else in between.
Before joining Matte Projects as Experiential Creative Director in 2022, Kate built and led the Creative Department within Events and Brand Experiences at Paramount (ViacomCBS). That is when Kate had the opportunity to continue the professional relationships she’d built through her creative studio. Working directly with Network executives at MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount and Showtime, to execute on key marketing strategies, programming, and annual tentpole events.
MATTE: IN YOUR TIME AT MATTE, IS THERE A PROJECT THAT YOU WILL NEVER FORGET?
We completed a project recently for SSENSE and Burberry. It was so hyper collaborative, intensive, and full of joy that it’ll stay with me for a long time. We designed and produced a highly artistic, multi level, sensory installation, with a complementary opening night event, as well as a campaign and content shoot - and all that happened on one single day, in the same location. It took place in Burberry’s flagship store in Chicago and was the sophomore expression of SSENSE’s Imaginary Cities project. The whole team, from clients to contractors, were true creatives, collaborators and experts, and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.
EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN CONTENDS WITH EXTREME LOGISTICS AS PART OF OUR EVERYDAY PROCESS
MATTE: Was there ever a time when achieving the desired result was particularly challenging?
Experiential design contends with extreme logistics as part of our everyday process. Everything from supply chain issues, safety measures, permitting considerations, spacial constraints, inclement weather and weight restrictions. Defying gravity is all in a day's work! Thankfully we have amazing partners in the experiential production team, who are logistics magicians, love a challenge, and thankfully, enjoy bringing our big ideas to life.
MATTE: You keep fondly mentioning your collaborators. What makes being part of this team so special?
People are my muse - they are the beginning, middle and end of everything I do.
Experiential design is not a solo discipline, it takes an army of incredibly talented, dedicated and patient people to take the cell of an idea and bring it to life. I see my greatest responsibility to this team as nurturing and empowering the incredible wealth of talent already at Matte, and expanding the team even more. It’s really a privilege to witness such growth, collaboration and creativity.
MATTE: Speaking of inspiration, are there any artists who you would consider an influence of yours?
Since my discipline straddles the line between artistry and practicality, my list of influences spans designers, craftspeople and architects. To have a brilliant idea or a concept is one thing, but these people also contend with building it, and everything that it entails. My drastically edited list would start with the queen, Es Devlin. And then Anish Kapoor, Willo Perron, Sila Sveta, Virgil Abloh, Kelly Wearstler, Julio Himede, Refik Anadol, Tobias Rylander, Olafur Eliasson, James Turrell, Adam Stockhausen, Santiago Sierra, Zaha Hadid, David Rockwell….how much more time do you have?
MATTE: Is there anything else that inspires you?
My evergreen inspiration is the Maya Angelou quote (and I’m paraphrasing) “people will forget what you said, and what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.” Truly successful experiential design provides a visceral experience and leaves a lasting impression.
For that reason, I get a lot of inspiration from simply being a consumer, and seeing what affects me and the people around me. Recently, I saw Thomas Ostermeier’s German production of Hamlet for the second time. I originally saw it in Australia in 2010 and it left such a deep imprint on me that I’d remembered it with awe for over a decade. When I saw the production was coming to NY I had to go back. To have that kind of impact on people is always my north star.
MATTE: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK AS A CREATIVE DIRECTOR?
Brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference.
MATTE: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT YOUR JOB YOU FIND ENERGIZING?
Thinking about the people we’re creating for is really energizing for me.
Understanding and anticipating what inspires and evokes them, allows me to more accurately forecast what kind of experiences will surprise and delight them.
MATTE: What do you envision for your future at MATTE?
My background is in film and television so I’d love to blend the Experiential arm and the Film arm of Matte (FINISH), and take us more into producing live shows as a collective. Cross functionality is inherent in the way Matte is structured and with such brilliant talent in-house, I’m eager to see what we could create together.
