September 22, 2026·Interview
Cat Morrison
A Melbourne creative director on non-linear inspiration, art-school misfits, and refusing to shrink.
For Cat Morrison, inspiration doesn’t run in a straight line. Her mind holds onto everything — images, smells, ex-lovers’ faces, a thing someone said six months ago — then resurfaces it in her work. As a Melbourne creative director, photographer, and strategist, she builds brands and tends her own through her platform, So, and pressed-flower practice, Sophemera. She’s preparing to direct and photograph a fashion shoot with Springtime Wishes. Here, Cat shares the places that reorient her, why she was terrible at art school, and a reminder not to make yourself smaller.
Three places you’ve felt inspired by.
This is tough because inspiration is never simple, is it? The idea that you can go somewhere, extract something from the experience, then go home and make something beautiful — all in a straight process with a clear beginning and end. This is why I was terrible at art school. I could never satisfactorily explain where the artwork began. For me, it is more like osmosis: I'm kind of constantly absorbing. Inspiration is a big soup that I have access to but can never really empty, so when you ask about places that inspire me, they're more places that reorient me: 1. my little garden in Melbourne (Narrm), with my hands in the dirt; 2. the Australian bush, in all its strange, ancient beauty; and 3. anywhere I can see, hear, and feel the ocean.
What's your hot take?
Most, if not all, of modern malaise is due to the human animal being kept in profoundly unnatural environments and cycles.
Tell us more about your creative practice.
My creative practice is the result of a life spent trying to earn a living while keeping pace with an evolving industry. Professionally, I work across creative direction, photography, copywriting, and strategy — building worlds, or what I call the “soul,” for brands. So I’m a bit of a shapeshifter, but as I get older, I’m less and less interested in defining the medium. I’m a creative person; the output just takes different forms. Alongside my commercial work, I have personal outlets for expression, including my pressed-flower project, Sophemera, and my platform, So.
Who is your forever inspo?
Impossible to narrow it down to a single name. But I will say I’m forever inspired by dialectical thinkers and anyone with a deep affinity and gentleness towards all living things.
Write us a fortune cookie.
If you are an ocean, be an ocean. Don’t be a pond just because people can’t swim.
