Australian women artists have been (and continue to be) underrepresented and undervalued in this country despite the stunning artistic works that have been produced since the mid nineteenth century. This podcast will shine a light on those artists and their spectacular art works. I'll be talking to the artists themselves, both established and emerging, as well as experts on Australian women artists in history.
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 81 Jenna Lee Jenna Lee is an artist whose work invites us to slow down and reconsider the stories hidden within the words and objects we often take for granted. A Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri woman with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Irish and Scottish heritage, Jenna has developed a remarkable practice that works across sculpture, installation, paper, photography and moving image. She transforms books, archives and printed texts into beautiful and thought-provoking artworks that ask important questions...including who gets to tell history. Jenna's work has been recognised through numerous awards, including the 2024 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, the 2023 Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award (Emerging Artist), the 2020 Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), the 2019 Dreaming Award presented by Creative Australia. She was even one of 5 shortlisted artists for the Venice Biennale for 2026. Jenna Lee has developed a unique and valuable artistic voice. Jenna is represented by Mars Gallery, and some of her available works can be found at https://marsgallery.com.au/jenna-lee/ More works and info can be also be found at https://jennalee.art/about Images 1 JL image by Anna Katsanevas 2 Instalation view of JL & Kojima Shouten's Balarr (To become light) 2023 3 White Grass Trees 1-3, 2021, pages of 'Aboriginal words and place names' bookbind thread, organic cotton thread, florist wire, glue, bookcover board 119, base 20 x 23 to 39 x 38 4 from HIStory Vessels exhibition, 2020, deconstructed pages of the Ladybird history book, 'The Story of Captain Cook' 5 To make light together 03, 2023, digital photograph 51 x 66 Just wanted to also drop a quick note here that I will be taking a few weeks off after this is published and wanted to say a heartfelt thanks for everyone’s support and encouragement thus far. I've enjoyed this immensely. I’ll be back in a few weeks with some very exciting guests and projects.
Tonee Messiah
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 80 Tonee Messiah I think it would be fair to say that Tonee Messiah’s work asks questions of you. It asks that you stand in front and notice how you feel. Her paintings have been described by her as living in the landscape of the mind. Tonee Messiah was born in Israel and spent her childhood moving between a kibbutz and coastal Australia, finally settling in Sydney at eleven. That experience of perpetual transition — of never quite arriving — became the foundation of one of the most quietly original painting practices in the country. She has a bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours from Sydney College of the Arts and a Masters of Fine Art from UNSW. Her work has entered the collections of Artbank and the Monash University Museum of Art, she collaborated with fashion label Gorman in 2022, and that same year won the Waverley Art Prize. She teaches painting at UNSW Art and Design and the National Art School. Tonee is represented by @nicholasthompsongallery Images 1. TM 2. A Fabricated Reflection, 2025 oil on poly cotton 122 x102 3. Essential Sensitivities, 2025, oil on poly cotton 102 x 76 4. Constructive Beliefs, 2025 oil on poly cotton 102 x 76 5. Slight Reposition on a Soft Decision, 2025 oil on poly cotton 122 x 107
Leah Thiessen
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 79 Leah Thiessen Leah Thiessen is a painter whose work is deeply shaped by place, memory, and the living energy of the landscape around her. Leah has spent close to two decades turning a very special place in Northern NSW into one of the most distinctive bodies of work in contemporary Australian painting. But she didn't start there. She began her creative life in fashion design, before retraining through a fine arts diploma, and, much later, a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Southern Cross University. In 2008 Leah left Sydney's Northern Beaches for the Northern Rivers region, and it was there that her real subject found her. Her practice is both intuitive and deeply observant. Working through mark-making, scraping back, and layers of paint, Leah builds surfaces that feel alive with movement and feeling. Her paintings seem to capture the spirit of a place. She's now represented by Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne, Despard Gallery in Hobart, and Lethbridge Gallery in Brisbane, with solo shows including Broadwater, Biome, and her most recent exhibition, Rustling Canopy. She's been twice named in the Top 100 Collectable Artists. ‘The course of painting is a primal impulse to mark. It is a physical and emotional experience. I paint in an expressive and gestural way capturing the force and energy of a place. I create a visceral experience through the use of mark making and the application of paint. My paintings are process driven and it is only through the act of painting over, scraping back and drawing into, that my work is resolved.’ Head to the link in my bio to hear the episode or search Australian Women Artists wherever you get your podcasts. Leah is represented by @flinderslanegallery, @despardgallery, @lethbridgegallery Images of Leah's work to follow in the next post...
Evie Adasal
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep. 78 Evie Adasal Evie Adasal is an artist whose practice has evolved — from photography and film through to painting, from direct landscape observation toward a more conceptually layered engagement with the environment. She brings an unusually layered visual intelligence to her painting practice. Her work is rooted in abstraction, drawn from the cultivated landscapes of public gardens and urban green spaces, and built through a process of slow, meditative looking and careful, beautiful layering of colour. She continues to push the boundaries of how landscapes can be interpreted through abstraction. Evie’s work ‘navigates the delicate balance between order and spontaneity, restraint and vibrancy. Her palette reflects this tension, as she moves between subtlety and intensity, bringing together elements that are both harmonious and disruptive’. For the past three years, she has also been awarded a number of shortlistings, including in prestigious national prizes such as the National Emerging Art Prize, Fisher’s Ghost Award, Hawkesbury Art Prize and the Georges River Art Prize, while winning the Anthea Polson Gallery Award at the Paddington Art Prize in 2023 and she’s very recently had a successful exhibition at Olsen Gallery in Sydney. Evie is represented by Olsen Gallery, Sydney (@olsen_gallery) and can be seen from Sept 26 at @sydneycontemporary For some available works copy and paste link below into your browser: https://www.olsengallery.com/exhibition/evie-adasal/ Images 1. EA by Brett East 2. I never promised you a Rose Garden, 2024, 180 x 150 (all paintings on carousel are synthetic polymer on poly cotton) 3. D-XI, 2026, 120 x 130 4. D-I, 2026, 120 x 130 5. D-X, 2026, 130 x 140 6. D-XV, 2026, 60 x 60
Dani McKenzie
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 77 Dani McKenzie Dani McKenzie’s story begins, unusually, not in an art school studio but in a bedroom — where, after a formative trip through Europe and a chance encounter with the work of Belgian painter Michaël Borremans, she spent six months teaching herself to paint. That instinct and passion carried her into the National Art School in Sydney, where she completed both her undergraduate and Master of Fine Art degrees, and where her enduring fascination with photography — memory, privacy, and the lives of strangers — first took shape. Early in her career, Dani worked from found photographs, creating imaginative worlds conjured from those images. But it was the ubiquitous disruptions of 2020 that changed everything. Forced to slow down, she began walking her own neighbourhood in inner-Melbourne, photographing it at night, and turning her lens — quite literally — on her own life and surroundings. The results are a stunning body of work. Paintings of glowing windows, quiet streets, and private moments caught in public space, executed with a photographic precision that somehow still feels deeply human. Dani is represented by PIERMARQ Gallery, Sydney, MARS Gallery, Melbourne and Long Story Short Gallery (Los Angeles, Paris, New York) and has held solo exhibitions in Paris, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne. Dani mentions being influenced by Clarice Beckett. You could copy and paste this link into your browser to hear a conversation I had with Jennifer Higgie on Clarice: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/australian-women-artists/id1794012822?i=1000695950466 Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to our conversation. Alternatively, search Australian Women Artists wherever you find your podcasts. Images 1. DM image supplied by artist 2. Waiting For You, 2022, oil & acrylic on linen 3. Waiting for Gelato, 2021, oil on masonite 4. That Little Italian Place on the Corner, 2022, oil & acrylic on linen 5. Room With a View, 2023 oil & acrylic on linen 6. Closing Time I, 2023, oil & acrylic on board 7. Date Night, 2024, oil & acrylic on linen 8. The Final Hour, 2025, oil & acrylic on linen
Kate Shaw
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 76 Kate Shaw Kate Shaw is an award-winning Australian artist who spends her time working and living between Melbourne and the US, having exhibited in Australia for over 20 years and internationally for over 10 years. Through her luminous landscapes, Kate has created an artistic world that is quite breathtaking, but also quite unsettling. Over that career, it would be fair to say she has fundamentally reinterpreted how we perceive the natural world. Her practice began to be recognized not just for its innovative methodology, but for its ecological statements. Kate has held solo exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and throughout Australia. She has also been part of group exhibitions in many other countries. ‘Kate has become a compelling voice in contemporary painting, known for her immersive, surreal landscapes that probe our relationship with the natural world. Shaw’s richly layered works — created through ‘paint pours’, resin, and reflective surfaces — evoke geological and atmospheric phenomena while inviting contemplation on ecological fragility, climate change, and the psychological experience of nature.’ Olsen Gallery To hear our conversation head to the link in my bio or search Australian Women Artists wherever you find your podcasts. Kate is represented by Olsen Gallery, Sydney (@olsen_gallery) For more info on Kate: www.kateshaw.org Images: 1. KS by Belle Stewart 2. Divine Matrix 2026 acrylic & resin on board 120 diam 3. 89 Seconds to Midnight 2025 acrylic on board 120 diam 4. Aurora 2016 acrylic and resin on board 120 diam 5. Carbon Entanglement 2026 acrylic and resin 60 x 50
Lucy Culliton
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 75 Lucy Culliton Lucy Culliton is a gem. It was such an enjoyable conversation – she always has interesting stories, and I was just lucky enough to be sitting on the other side of the table. It becomes quite apparent that Lucy finds a portrait in everything she looks at — a cactus spine, a prize rooster, a knitted doll, a greyhound asleep in the afternoon light. And that’s because she paints with an intimacy that seems to breathe life into those everyday scenes and objects? Lucy Culliton lives and works on a property at the edge of Bibbenluke in the Snowy Monaro. There she has created a beautiful garden, and she also shares the property with cows, sheep, goats, horses, pigeons, ducks and many rescued greyhounds. The farm is not a backdrop to the work. It is the work. Lucy studied at the National Art School, graduating in 1996, and has spent three decades building one of the most beloved and distinctive bodies of work in Australian painting. She is a multiple Archibald, Wynne and Sulman finalist, and this year won the Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Her paintings make you slow down. They make you look harder. And they make the ordinary world feel, somehow, like more than enough. I decided within seconds of starting this conversation that, for listeners to get the full picture, it would best to just let it roll. No editing. It is what it is with Lucy. And aren’t we all the luckier for that. Lucy is represented by @kingstreetgallery in Sydney and @janmurphygallery in Brisbane Her exhibition, Grasses, Tussocks & Sedges is at King St till 4 July Head to my bio for a link to the podcast episode or search for Australian Women Artists wherever you find your podcasts. Images 1. LC via Painted River Project 2. Bibbenluke Spring 2025 oil on canvas 122 x 99 3. Top Swamp II 2023 oil on canvas 199 x 122 4. Toolah, artist assist and and model oil on canvas 140 x140 (winner Sulman Prize 2026) 5. View From The Pavillion Gunningrah 2026 oil on canvas 184 x 183 6. Love lies bleeding 2017 oil on canvas 244 x 183
Rachel Milne
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 74 Rachel Milne Rachel Milne is a Newcastle-based painter whose work turns everyday interiors, objects, and moments into beautifully compelling paintings. Rachel grew up in Cambridge, trained in Cardiff, and built an early career in Britain serious enough to earn her membership of the Royal West of England Academy. Then, in 2013, she packed up and moved to the other side of the world — to Newcastle, New South Wales — and something shifted. She is a painter of interiors. Of unmade beds and cluttered studios, of hallways and mirrors, of spaces that hold the shape of the people who inhabit them. She works in oil, from life, often in a single sitting — because she believes the camera makes too many decisions on her behalf. She has been a finalist in numerous significant awards including the Wynne Prize and Portia Geach and has won the Evelyn Chapman Award, Muswellbrook Art Prize and the Vincent Prize. More recently she has spent time as artist-in-residence at the Liddell Power Station — finding beauty in a building the world was busy demolishing. And who could have guessed this started from painting backgrounds for Wallace and Gromit. Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to our conversation. Rachel’s latest exhibition: Newcastle, High is on at King Street Gallery on William (Sydney) till 4 July 2026. For more info and examples of her work, head to www.rachelmilneartist.com.au Rachel is represented in Sydney by King Street Gallery on William (@kingstreetgallery) and Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne (@sophiegannongallery) Images 1. RM by David Griffen 2. The Stage, Victoria Theatre 2021 160 x 120 3. Nest, 2022 oil on board (winner Muswellbrook Painting Prize) 4. Studio Haefligers 2016 50 x 80 (Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Collection) 5. View From The Stage, Victoria Theatre, 2021 80 x 100 6. Town Hall 2026 60 x 80
Kirtika Kain
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 73 Kirtika Kain Kirtika Kain was born in New Delhi, India and raised on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and is making some of the most viscerally powerful art in the country right now. Kirtika is a printmaker, a painter, and an alchemist. Her works often depict the overlooked. One of the extraordinary ways she does that is by taking materials such as pigments, wax, sindoor, human hair, charcoal, gold and tar and transforming them into works that carry centuries of inherited memory. Her practice is a reckoning with identity, and what might be termed the silences passed down through generations. But it’s more than that. It's also an act of celebration and the grandeur of a culture that has never been properly archived. She has shown at the Biennale of Sydney, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, and in galleries across Australia and Europe. Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation. Kirtika (@kirtika.kain) is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 (@roslynoxley9) Images 1. KK in her studio at Parramatta Artists’ Studios, by Garry Trinh 2. Chronicles, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025-26 3. Mimetics, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025-26 4. 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art 5. Stone Idols, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery 2021
Lily Mae Martin
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 72 Lily Mae Martin Lily Mae Martin is a remarkable visual artist known for her deeply personal explorations of womanhood, motherhood, and the human condition. Her own strength and resilience in the face of, at times, enormous challenges, is remarkable. She is celebrated for her masterful draughtsmanship, particularly her delicate and detailed cross-hatching using fine liner ink pens, building up thousands upon thousands of tiny lines to produce an incredible tone. After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2008 and winning the Lionel Gell travelling scholarship, she spent years refining her practice in Berlin and Wales before returning to Australia. Her work has always been predominantly figurative, with a love of traditional portraiture approached in an unconventional way — seeking to capture people outside of the polished, self-conscious way they present themselves to a camera. She was a finalist for the 2016 Rick Amor Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of Ballarat; winner of the 2016 Ursula Hoff Institute Emerging Artist Acquisitive Art Award in the National Works on Paper exhibition, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery; and shortlisted for the 2016 Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Adelaide Perry drawing prize 2017 and the Dobell Drawing Prize 2019. Lily Mae also contributed to The Drawing Board – a four part segment exploring drawing on Radio National, The Arts Program in 2022. Lily Mae (@lilymaemartin) is represented by Scott Livesey Galleries (@scottliveseygalleries) I referred in our conversation to the National Gallery of Victoria ‘Drop-by Drawing’ programme of which Lily Mae was a part. The link is below https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/multimedia/drop-by-drawing-with-lily-mae-martin/ Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to our conversation. Images 1. LMM supplied by artist 2. Orchid Medley 2025 ink on cotton paper 15 x 20 3. Waterloo State Forest 2016 ink on paper 76 x 105 4. Nothing is Untouched (Moorabool) 2024 ink on paper 56 x 76 5. Emerging
Julie Fragar
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 71 Julie Fragar Julie Fragar is one of the country's most compelling painters. For those who are familiar with that name, it could well be because she recently made headlines as the winner of the prestigious 2025 Archibald Prize. What is perhaps not as well known to the general public is that that win marked the 4th time she had been a finalist in that competition. For over two decades, Julie's practice has been described as pushing the intellectual limits of painting. Her works are deeply psychological, and weave together autobiography, historical narratives and intense human experiences. We had a great conversation talking about her childhood in country NSW, her art school experiences, her visual technique which she describes as not "layering," but rather as images "woven" or "knitted" together, where all images exist simultaneously on the canvas, the incredible works she produced after sitting in the public gallery of the Supreme Court and later when she shadowed a gynaecological surgeon and witnessed the visceral reality of the operating theatre and, of course, her 2025 win in the Archibald Prize. Julie Fragar’s work is held in major public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Art Gallery of South Australia; and the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art. She has been the recipient of major awards and institutional commissions. And Professor Fragar also happens to be Deputy Director (Research) at the Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University. Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation, or search Australian Women Artists wherever you find your podcasts. Images 1. JF, AGNSW, Diana Panuccio 2. Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene) 2025 oil on canvas, 240 x 180 (Archibald winner 2025) 3. Richard, 2020 oil on canvas 180 x 135 (Archibald finalist) 4. Trust, 2026 oil on canvas 180 x 135 5. Drown in Your Own Ambition, 2021 6. Origin of the World (or One Battle After Another), 2026
Lisa Bale
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 70 Lisa Bale It would probably be fair to say that Lisa Bale sits outside the art establishment. She lives and works remotely on a bush property situated in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Not having formal art training has been no hindrance to an exceptional talent. In fact, it’s probably a big contributing factor to her success. Her works are witty, surprising, and visually arresting takes on modern-day dilemmas. Her extensive career spans nearly four decades and she has deliberately cultivated a distinctive aesthetic that marries meticulous technique with deeply personal, often idiosyncratic subject matter. Her works are held in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions, including the Art Gallery of South Australia, QAGOMA, the University of Queensland Art Museum, Rockhampton Art Gallery, and the private collection of Lord Jeffrey Archer in London. The work is stunning, and I’m honoured that she’s chosen to have a chat on AWA because in nearly 40 years of creativity, Lisa has told me she has never done this sort of focussed and in-depth interview. For over 20 years Lisa has been represented by Philip Bacon Galleries, one of Australia’s leading art galleries. From their website... “Meticulously producing hyper-real imagery, Bale uses oil paint and a deft hand to load dramatic scenes with rich metaphor and illusory turns.” Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation or search for ‘Australian Women Artists’ wherever you find your podcasts. Images 1. Lisa Bale, 2026, photograph by Kim Guthrie @iphotographstuff 2. Rose Garden, 2008, 53 x 70 cm, oil on canvas Collection: Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) 3. Sacred Heart, 2019, 61 x 80 cm, oil on canvas Private Collection 4. Dig, 2011, 68 x 100 cm, oil on canvas Collection: University of Queensland Art Museum 5. Icebreaker, 2014, 49 x 83 cm, oil on canvas Private Collection 6. Inquisition, 2016, 54 x 80 cm, oil on canvas Collection: Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA)
Heidi Yardley
Australian Women Artists The Podcast Ep 69 Heidi Yardley Heidi Yardley is a Melbourne-born painter whose work occupies a significant space in contemporary Australian art — intimate, psychological, and immediately recognisable. ‘[Heidi] works with found images to create scenes of mysterious temporality. Often painted in faded hues, her artwork is suggestive of a period that could sit somewhere between the 1960’s and 70’s.’ She works with oil paint and charcoal and incredible collaging techniques where she creates anonymous portraits of sexualised and domesticated femininity. Over three decades she has drawn on vintage imagery, cinema, music, and the female experience as inspiration. Heidi has been a finalist in significant prizes including The Archibald Prize, Wynne Prize, Sulman Prize and The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, has held two artist residencies in New York, and has been listed as one of Australia’s 50 most collectable artists. It was a great broad ranging conversation. We covered her obsession with art at high school and her struggle to get into the painting course she desperately wanted (spoiler: she persisted and got in!), her love of figurative art and having to resist pressures from outside to think and act more conceptually – and her persistence paid dividends again. I loved her description of how she felt when overseas standing in front of paintings she had only seen in books to that point. We talked about her visual language, how she finds titles for her works and ... Nick Cave. Which I’m always up for a chat about. Mood, mystery and the unresolved image. Head to the link in my bio to have a listen. Heidi is represented by Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (@janmurphygallery) and Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne (@nicholasthompsongallery) Images 1. HY by Lisa Barmby 2. The masked bride, 2024 oil on canvas 140 x 100 3. The black veil, 2019 charcoal on primed paper 84 x 110 4. The door, 2021 oil on canvas 144 x 116 5. Psychique 2021 oil on canvas 140 x 110
Suzanne Archer
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 68 Suzanne Archer Across six decades, Suzanne Archer has forged a singular career in Australian art, marked by independence from curatorial trends and sustained commitment to difficult subjects. From youthful abstraction through immersion in the Australian bush to a fearless confrontation with death and time. Suzanne has won major prizes including the Wynne Prize for landscape and the Dobell Prize for Drawing, and her work is held in significant public collections nationwide. Her constant evolution is fascinating. We discussed many aspects of her career. The origins of her artistic journey, her immigration to Australia in the 1960s and the incredible effect living on the NSW South Coast had on her, how she made a living in those early days from art, residencies in New York and Paris and Zimbabwe and how those experiences taught her to never shut down what is possible, how moving to the country and that sense of space had a profound effect on her and her art. We had this conversation at Nanda Hobbs Gallery in Sydney when her recent exhibition, Manifestation, was showing. Suzanne is represented by Nanda Hobbs, Sydney Images 1. SA in front of a detail of Gorge Country – Wedderburn, 2024 oil on canvas 198 x 408 2. Brown velvet, 2025 oil on canvas, 153 x 153 3. Arty-Fact 2013, cloth bag, collaged embroidery, cardboard, acrylic paint, canvas mat 4. Derangement, 2010, ink, charcoal, pastel on 2 sheets of white paper (winner Dobel Prize) 5. Waratahs Wedderburn, 1994, oil on canvas, 240 x 242
Tracey Deep
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 67 Tracey Deep For over twenty years, Tracey Deep has been transforming forgotten remnants of the natural world—from dried botanicals to recycled organic and industrial materials—into captivating, tactile sculptures. Her art celebrates the regenerative power of the earth through the art of what’s been called intentional imperfection. Today her work spans gallery exhibitions, immersive installations and major public artworks across Australia. Whether delicate and intimate or monumental in scale, her sculptures invite us to slow down and reconnect with the natural world. But I think the best description of Tracey is... a creative adventurer, a biology enthusiast, and magical botanical sculptor. “My passion for working with nature, my love for art has been the inspiration behind where I am today. Mother nature is my teacher, creating floralsculpture installations over decades has been the most inspiring tool in training my eye to assemble unique forms, patterns, shapes & tones together to create “living art”.” Tracey Deep We had a wonderful conversation as, amongst many things, we discussed her creative journey, her fabulous (and random) gathering process, and her devotion to protecting our land and environment. Tracey is represented by Saint Cloche Galleries (@saint_cloche) Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation or go to wherever you find your podcasts. Images of Tracey and her work were supplied by the artist
Dagmar Cyrulla
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 66 Dagmar Cyrulla Dagmar Cyrulla is an Australian contemporary artist whose work grew out of a lifelong interest in people, relationships, and the emotional texture of ordinary life. Born in Germany and raised in Sydney from age one, she developed an art practice that blends portraiture, domestic scenes, and psychological observation into stories about human connection. She is a distinguished figure in the Australian art scene, frequently appearing as a finalist for prestigious awards such as the Archibald, Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Dobell Drawing Prize, Portia Geach, Fishers Ghost and many more. She has been described, wonderfully I think, as a seasoned storyteller of the contemporary human condition. “My work is about feelings, based on how we relate to one another. My aim is to engage the viewer in the same thought process as mine, so as to open an opportunity to self questioning. My paintings are stories which hopefully reflect my love of people. The life experiences I use to develop my work include; Father and daughter relationships, power relationships, relationships to parents, being and having a role model, sibling rivalry etc. I have clarity with each artwork in regard to the ideas I am exploring, however it is more important for me to be engaged emotionally with each work. I play with colour and light to help create the mood that I want the viewer to experience.” Dagmar Cyrulla Head to the link in my bio for our conversation and or from wherever you get your podcasts. Dagmar (@dagmarcyrulla) is represented by Lennox St Gallery (@lennoxstgallery) and Wagner Contemporary (@wagnercontemporary) Etre is showing at Lennox St till 25 April Images 1. DC 2. The keeper of secrets, 2009, pastel on paper 205 x 142 3. Etre III, 2025, oil on linen 50 x 40 4. Le marriage, 2024, oil on linen, 82 x 61 5. Woman bathing after Rembrandt, 2025 oil on linen, 41 x 36 6. After Hopper study II, 2025 oil on paper on board 45 x 25 7. Wendy Paris and Minerva, oil on canvas 8. If you can’t stand the heat, 2010, oil on canvas
Shay Docking
Australian Women Artists The Podcast Episode 65 Shay Docking Artists of Influence: Shay Docking (influencing Margaret Ackland, ep. 5) Welcome to another edition of AWA artists of influence. For those who’ve heard some of these podcasts, you’ll remember that the last question I ask is: Is there an Australian woman artist who has inspired or influenced you and if so, who and how? I’ve decided to explore a little further the artists who were named as influences by my podcast guests. If you’d like to hear in more detail about Shay Docking, then follow the link in my bio to a ‘mini’ podcast about this extraordinary woman. In ep. 5, I asked this question of critically acclaimed Australian contemporary artist Margaret Ackland. And the artist that was an influence on her was Shay Docking. Shay Docking is one of the most original landscape painters of the twentieth century. The extraordinary work she produced deserves greater recognition. Examples of Shay’s work are displayed at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, the National Gallery Victoria and the Art Gallery of NSW as well as other major state and regional galleries across Australia and NZ. And Shay Docking was such a good friend and influence on Margaret Ackland that, in 1987, Margaret painted a portrait of Shay for the Archibald Prize and was a finalist. The same portrait won the Portia Geach Memorial Award the following year. Head to my Instagram account to have a look at Shay’s work (a larger carousel of her works will follow) and Margaret Ackland’s beautiful portrait of Shay Docking. And make sure you have a listen to her episode on Australian Women Artists. Margaret Ackland is represented by @flinderslanegallery @stanley_street_gallery Images 1 Margaret Ackland’s award-winning portrait of her friend, Shay Docking 2 Shay Docking’s Volcano Blue Lake and Plains, 1979, pastel and acrylic on paper on board 76 x 98 More images of Shay’s work to follow on instagram
Celia Gullett
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep 64 Celia Gullett Celia Gullett has developed a beautiful distinctive practice over several decades. Her abstract works explore colour, light and surface with what’s been described as, ‘remarkable sensitivity’. Her career has unfolded gradually, shaped by long periods of study, reflection and... life. A major turning point in Celia’s artistic development came in the mid to late 1990s when she began studying at the Charlie Sheard Studio School in Sydney. And we’ll talk about the importance of that to her remarkable journey. Her work gained recognition through art prizes and exhibitions. She became a repeat finalist in both the Mosman Art Prize and the Paddington Art Prize and just last year won the Allan Gamble Award at the Mosman Art Prize. Celia spoke about growing up in the country and that even as a young girl, she was acutely aware of sensory moments and being observant (a necessary skill in the country!). We also talked about her art school experiences and what it did and didn’t provide. Which led to her needing to get out in the world to develop her language. It was really interesting talking about her seminal experience at the Charlie Sheard Studio School. His mantra that stuck with her...It’s not what you paint, it’s how you paint it. Of course, we discussed the fabulous influences on her personally and artistically from her time in Florence and Rajasthan. But always – colour, light and surface...and the importance of treading your own path. We had our conversation in Celia’s fabulous Sydney studio. Celia (@celia.gullett) is represented by Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (@janmurphygallery) and Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne (@sophiegannongallery) Image of CG supplied by artist. Photographer: @markrogers_photo More images to follow in subsequent post
Camie Lyons
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep. 63 Camie Lyons Camie Lyons is a Sydney-based contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, painting, and drawing. Her creative approach is deeply informed by her background as a dancer, translating the rhythm and fluid lines of human movement into physical forms. Working primarily with bronze and charcoal, she often sources inspiration from the Australian landscape, using natural materials like eucalyptus branches to anchor her organic silhouettes. Camie has received extensive academic training in Melbourne and Sydney, supplemented by international residencies in countries such as Sweden and Bulgaria. Her professional portfolio includes major commissions for prestigious brands like Tiffany & Co. and the Hilton Hotel, alongside numerous solo exhibitions across Australia and Asia. Today, her work is held in prominent public and private collections globally, reflecting her status as a significant figure in the contemporary art world. We discussed the discipline of being a professional ballet dancer and her work as an artist and the fabulous influences of one over the other. How her work, despite being in the hard and heavy medium of bronze, is still very intuitive. Very little planning. I found that fascinating. We also talked about the random things that can happen in life and taking the opportunities they may present and the importance of risk and believing in your own process. To hear our conversation, head to the link in my bio. Camie (@camie.lyons) is represented by Australian Galleries (@australiangalleries) in Sydney and Melbourne Images 1 CL 2 Girl is gone, 2025 bronze 98 x 85 x 51 3 Slow tumbling house 2025 bronze 60 x 54 x 49 4 Moving young to a new planet 2025 acrylic and pencil on linen 5 Apple and pear 2019 bronze 14 x 14 x 14
Deborah Halpern OAM
Australian Women Artists The podcast Ep. 62. Deborah Halpern OAM Deborah Halpern is one of Australia’s most celebrated multi-disciplinary artists, renowned for her vibrant, whimsical public sculptures that have redefined Melbourne’s urban landscape. Rather than pursuing austere minimalism, which still dominated many sculpture departments, she embraced exuberance. Colour became central to her practice...and over a career spanning more than four decades, Deborah has explored a vast array of mediums, including sculpture, painting, pottery, glass blowing, and printmaking, though she is most famously identified with her monumental mosaic works... large-scale sculptures constructed from fibreglass and steel armatures, clad in hand-cut ceramic tiles. It was a lovely languid conversation about her journey, her processes and, amongst other things, how her international residencies gave her exposure to international artists and had a huge impact on her and her work. It was also really interesting hearing about her seminal 10m sculpture ‘Angel’ which graced the outside of the National Gallery of Victoria...in particular the constant hurdles she faced in physically making it and finding the finance to finish it. She’s a big advocate for the benefit of art and public art in particular. Her work is meant to bring joy. To ‘elevate and escalate the art experience’, as she puts it. To listen to the conversation, head to the link in my bio. Deborah Halpern is represented by @arthousegallery , Sydney @niagaragalleries , Melbourne See more of her works at www.deborahhalpern.com Images: 1 DH by Mia Mala McDonald 2 Family 2024 (all works are glass, steel, fibreglass) 345 x 220 x 88 3 Ophelia 1992 (the face of Melbourne) 4 Bodrig the Powerful Owl 2025 116 x 100 x 60 5 Angel 1988 6 Flying Fish 2025 50 x 56 x 30 7 Creature with Green Eyes and Tail 2026 59 x 39 x14 8 Winged Victory 2026 127 x 56 x 110
