Born in Güstrow (Mecklenburg), Katrin Alvarez grew up on a country estate as the daughter of an architect, art teacher, and a Wehrmacht officer. In 1969 she passed the first state examination in law at the University of Cologne. That began her work as a volunteer journalist. After a two-year traineeship at the Kölnische Rundschau, she began painting and writing. In 1971 she published satirical poems and a psychological autobiography portrait titled; Fat Lilli – Good Child, Change Lobsters and Dance, under the pseudonym Sybille Braatz in Ilmgau Verlag.

The powerful freedom of creating universes of her own has brought her international recognition, including two solo shows in Rome (Italy) and Vienna (Austria). In 2007 she won the Allan Edwards Award from the Federation of Canadian Painters (SFCA) in Vancouver. In 2011 one of her works was selected for exhibition in the “Phantasten Museum Wein” in the Palais Palffy in Vienna. That same year she was awarded the Vivid Arts Network Prize “Onore alla creatività e l’eccellenza nelle arti.” In 2012 Alvarez received the Grande Médaille d’Or MCA Cannes Azur and was awarded the Leonardo Prize (painting) of the Chianciano Art Award.

In 2017, Alvarez was awarded the Premio Alla Carriera by ArtTour International and Artist of the Year by the ATIM’S 60 Masters awards.

Despite her multi-faceted talents, painting has remained the fundamental impulse of her life. Alvarez intentionally focuses on the human figure while introducing multiple reference points such as objects, animals, etc. to enrich the composition conceptually as well as visually. Each painting representative of the complexity of human situations. Her expressionist and surrealistic approach brings a non-apologetic look into the emotions and experiences of child abuse. Love it or hate it, no viewer can deny the strong reactions evoked by her work. Alvarez continues to create works of art that bring attention to the universal problem of child abuse. One she passionately believes cannot be ignored.