Sometimes you just get lucky.

For Sue Cato, the unstoppable communicator and now one of the driving forces behind Sydney Contemporary, art had always been a part of her life.

At the start, though, it was mostly just about decoration. Cato grew up with pictures on the wall – art was very much part of the furniture – it made a house into a home. It just never made her think.

Now, though, the art she has does a lot a lot more than that. She’s turned an old electric light power house into a space that resounds with some of the world’s best contemporary art. From Shaun Gladwell to Danie Mellor. The works at once delight, inspire and excite.

And if it wasn’t for a lucky visit to the Sherman gallery in Sydney, that may never have happened.

Cato says she walked into Sherman in the 1990s not knowing anything.

‘I just happened to chance upon one of the greatest galleries. It was the last day of the show and there were no red dots but I didn’t know to look for that and I spent 2 hours choosing 4 works by Guan Wei.’
‘After that – it was like a cat swallowing a ribbon. Once I had started there was no end.’

That ribbon took her to other Sydney galleries and now to her greatest addiction – Art Fairs.

Cato loves the excitement of a big fair. She thrives on the energy and the ideas on show.

What she is looking for is an ‘opportunity to see different thinking.’

She want to know what’s driving the work, what’s underlying it. For Cato, the pieces she has filled the walls of her and her friends’ homes with need to ‘come from places that to us with normal, logical minds would never find.’

To discover the pieces Sue will next be exploring, be sure to check out the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair this month at Carriageworks.