For Catherine Cocker, the impact of colonisation upon Pacific culture and environment is a key concern.

 Catherine’s initial foray into creative education began in 2005 when she received a Certificate in Applied Printing from AUT University.  She then went on to complete a Diploma in Visual Art at Manukau Institute of Technology in 2006 and a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2010 at the Otago Polytechnic.  Adding to an already impressive education, Catherine then graduated from Massey University in 2012 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Visual Art, specialising in Maori art.

Catherine is of mainly Tongan and Scottish descent and was raised

One of Catherine’s major sculptural works Transition, was shown at ROCDA in July 2010 as part of the Blend: Art-Sci exhibition.  Transition explores the relationship between the scientific and religious.  It is in this piece that Catherine makes the connection that the scientific and religious rely similarly on faith.  Transition consists of a series of test tubes, elevated and arranged by stainless steel poles, and framed by a stainless steel deck and roof, on a white plinth.  The sculpture is created in the likeness of the Biblical Noahs' Ark and scaled 1:100 of the alleged original ark. The work itself literally houses scientific paraphernalia whilst capturing and reflecting light through a multitude of test tubes.

Catherine has exhibited in a number of group and solo exhibitions including: Oil-On-Canvas, Dunedin Community Gallery, Dunedin, 2014; Dowling Street Xmas Party, Dowling St Artist Studio’s, Dunedin, 2013; Other Echoes, Blue Oyster Art Projects, Dunedin, 2013; Waikato ki Matariki, Creative Waikato, Hamilton, 2013; An Ode to Tantalus, Te Manawa Science and History Museum, Palmerston North, 2013 and NZ Sculpture on the Shore, Auckland, 2012.