Born in 1956 in Perth, Western Australia, to Hungarian parents, Kati studied art at Edith Cowan University and the Hobart School of Art, majoring in printmaking. Since 1980 she has lived mainly on the far south coast of WA, working from her home studio. The telling of tales has always been integral to her art practice, and she draws on personal stories and incidents along with both lesser and grander narratives to devise a form of visual fable. Using a cast of characters including animals and objects, her storylines suggest the mystery, frailty, hopefulness and anxiety of life. She says, 'I think of my images as small theatre settings where various dramas are enacted'. Kati's art is often imbued with her Eastern European heritage, and a journey to trace her migrant family's homelands in 2010 is reflected in subsequent exhibitions, and in the development of several series of works.

More recently, Kati has been exploring the natural world, looking at ways to depict the fragility and complexity of natural ecosystems, and of the human relationship to nature.

Kati's work has been exhibited nationally in both solo and group exhibitions, and is held in numerous private and public art collections in both Australia and overseas.