In 1969 Catherine held his first solo exhibition consisting of oil paintings on wood, bone, wire and an assortment of found objects. His art has since undergone several metamorphoses, from the pristine airbrush paintings of the 70’s to the frenzied, ritualistic mixed media works of the early and mid-80’s; the wire sculptures and tin can works of the late-80’s and the primitive-futuristic paintings of the early 90’s which provided the seeds for his pre-millennial menagerie of anthropomorphic beasts. In the thirty years spanning his past and present output, Catherine’s visual trademarks have included rough-edged comical and nightmarish forms, rendered in brash cartoon colours. His idiosyncratic vision – a combination of dark cynicism and exuberant humour, as well as his innovative use of everyday material, has secured his place at the forefront of South African contemporary art.”
Hazel Friedman, Norman Catherine, 2000

1973 - Norman Catherine started work on a project called "Fook Island" with Professor Walter Battiss
1975 - Began building a home called "Fook Manor" at Hartebeespoort Dam, South Africa
1978 - Began work on "Memo" book with Allan Cameron
1981 - Worked for R.O. Bloohman, New York, on animation project Stravinsky’'s "L’Histoire du Soldat "
1984- 1985 - Spent a year in Los Angeles and New York
1986 - Spent three months in Los Angeles and New York
1986/7 - Designed murals for Fook Island town house development in Pretoria on original property of Walter Battiss
1987-90 - Designed Fook Island merchandising
1995 - Book "The Legend of Memo the Hierophant" created with Allan Cameron, published by Orion in the United Kingdom.