Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 40 Amber Wallis

Amber Wallis has carved out a distinctive space in contemporary painting with canvases that blend abstraction and figuration, intimacy and intensity. Her art often emerges from deeply personal narratives.

Amber holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Canberra School of Art and a Master of Visual Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts. The VCA years were formative: she pushed an already fluid practice toward a deliberately unstable seam between figuration and abstraction, learning to let images “stain” their way into being on raw or lightly primed linen.

In 2008 Amber won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, one of Australia’s most significant awards for an emerging painter. The prize took her to Paris for a three-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, and we had an interesting discussion on the affect that had not just on her, but on her art.

By 2009, Amber's raw, expressive works were exhibiting regularly along Australia’s East Coast.

By the mid-2010s, Wallis had consolidated a national profile.

Amber's work entered more collections and she was shortlisted for major prizes: Sunshine Coast Art Prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize and the Evelyn Chapman Art Award. In 2022, she won the inaugural Wollumbin Art Award and has been a finalist in numerous other awards including the Sir John Sulman Prize (twice), Bayside Painting Prize, Geelong Contemporary Art Award.

It was a really interesting conversation as we covered a lot of her life and art.

Head to the link in my bio to hear this episode.

Amber is represented in Brisbane by Jan Murphy Gallery

Images

1. AW by Kate Holmes

2. Women 2020 oil on linen 120x150

3. Soft figure 2025 oil on linen 135x120

4. Glowing house structure 2025 oil on linen 135x120

5. Orange warm protective watchers 2024 oil on linen 150x120

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 39 Justine Kong Sing

A conversation with Monique Watkins (AGNSW)

A few of Justine Kong Sing's works are on display at the new exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, Dangerously Modern, Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890-1940. I had the privilege of sitting down with Monique Watkins to discuss this extraordinarily talented artist who has been largely overlooked in the Australian art canon.

.....My special guest today on the podcast is curator Monique Watkins, and this discussion took place in the Art Gallery of NSW. We were discussing the relatively unknown but brilliant, Justine Kong Sing.

Monique Watkins is a curator, writer and editor with experience working at leading cultural organisations in Sydney, including Kaldor Public Art Projects, White Rabbit Gallery and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She contributed an essay on Justine for the accompanying book to the exhibition Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890-1940. Monique's research has helped pave the way for a wider appreciation of Justine's work.

Justine Kong Sing grew up in rural New South Wales during the 1870s and 1880s. As the daughter of a Hong Kong Chinese miner, she navigated the (I guess the polite way of saying it is...) complex social landscape of late 19th and early 20th century Australia ...all the while establishing herself as a skilled artist whose work would eventually gain recognition in major galleries across Australia and Europe. It’s a fascinating story often overlooked.

To hear our conversation head to the link in my bio above or head to wherever you find your podcasts.

Instagram images

1. Me, 1912

watercolour on ivory

Dimensions

6.1 x 4.5 cm

2. Chums 1911

Materials used

watercolour on ivory

Dimensions

9.5 x 7.4 cm

3. Madame Sze, wife of the Chinese Minister
(c. 1914-1916)

watercolour on ivory

Measurements
9.5 × 7.7 cm

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 38 Robyn Sweaney

Robyn Sweaney is a contemporary artist who began exhibiting her work regularly from about 1992.

Her early work included still-life compositions, landscapes, and portraiture.

After relocating to northern New South Wales, she was inspired by her surrounds by painting houses. She could merge her philosophical interests with visual storytelling. And the paintings are beautifully reminiscent. But not in a ‘I prefer the old days’ sort of way. She just captures a moment.

More specifically... “Domestic dwellings divulge more than their mere exteriors, functioning as physical incarnations of the aesthetic, ideological and social structures influencing human behaviour. Informed by travel through familiar and unfamiliar rural and suburban places, Robyn finds that, ‘certain elements of place resonate an unexplainable reaction within me – something ignites deep within memory. The landscape is somehow opened up by the search itself and my response can reach beyond its visual appearance’.”

Her work has been described as emotional portraits of place, capturing the essence of lived experience through facades and fences.

Robyn has been involved in over one hundred group exhibitions. She was the winner of the Wynne Trustees’ Watercolour Prize, AGNSW (2019) and has been the finalist of many major awards including multiple times for the Wynne Prize, Salon Des Refusés, Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Prize, Mosman Art Prize, Paddington Art Prize, Moran Prize, Portia Geach Memorial Award and has also been a finalist in the Sulman Prize. Her work is held in public and private collections throughout Australia.

Head to the link in my bio for our podcast conversation

Images

RS image: Danny Sweaney, Oh Boy Agency

Dreams and Imaginings, 2024

acrylic on polycotton

40 x 50 cm, 42.5 x 52.5 cm

Endless Blue, 2024

acrylic on polycotton

50 x 70 cm, 52.5 x 72.5 cm

Out of the Blue, 2024

acrylic on polycotton

95 x 135 cm, 97.5 x 137.5 cm

Parts of the whole, 2025

acrylic on polycotton

50 x 70 cm, 52.5 x 72.5 cm

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 37 Daphne Mayo and Vida Lahey -

A conversation with Samantha Littley QAGOMA

Samantha Littley is a distinguished Australian art curator who, for the last 6 years has been the Curator of Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. With a diverse background spanning major cultural institutions including the Australian War Memorial, National Gallery of Australia, and Australian National University, Samantha brings extensive expertise to contemporary and historical Australian art and is the curator of the magnificent ‘Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s’ at the Queensland Art Gallery from 16 August 2025.

Vida Lahey and Daphne Mayo feature in the exhibition.

Vida Lahey was a pioneering Australian artist whose work and advocacy played a formative role in Queensland’s cultural development. Known for her vibrant still lifes, sensitive landscapes, and iconic painting "Monday Morning”.

Daphne Mayo MBE was known for her work in sculpture, particularly the tympanum of Brisbane City Hall and the Women's War Memorial in ANZAC Square. She’s one of Australia's most significant C20th sculptors at a time when the field was overwhelmingly dominated by men. She created some of Brisbane's most iconic public monuments but also challenged societal expectations.

Their work together in advocating for arts and artists in Qld is legendary.

Head to the link in my bio for the episode

Images

1. DM (2nd from right) Life study class, Royal Acad of Arts London 1923

2. Working on Bris City Hall Tympanum 1930

3. Working on Qld’s Women’s War Memorial 1932

4. Fat man 1940 bronze 29 x 9.8 x 15

5. VL Monday morning 1912 oil on canvas 153 x 122.7

6. Sultry noon (Central Station Brisbane) 1931 oil on canvas on plywood 44.7x49.2

7. Building the bridge 1931 watercolour & gouache over pencil on wove paper on cardboard 25.3 x 30.3

8. Art and nature 1934 watercolour 52.5 x 60.6 (includes the relief by DM)

9. A mixed bunch 1936 watercolour on cream wove paper 40 x 40

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 36 Del Kathryn Barton

Del Kathryn Barton is one of Australia’s most recognisable and collectible artists.

She is known for her intricate and almost psychedelic works. Her practice spans painting, sculpture, and film.

She is a two-time winner of the prestigious Archibald Prize - only the second woman to do that in the Prize’s 104-year history.

Her art explores the complexities of the human experience, particularly femininity, sexuality, and motherhood, often blurring the lines between humans and nature with incredible hybrid forms.

From her award-winning painting to film collaborations with stars like Cate Blanchett, hersingular vision has made her a pre-eminent voice in Australian art.

We had a lovely, far-ranging chat and her outlook and advice has been honed over a long and very successful career not just in Australia but internationally.

Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to the podcast.

Instagram Images

1. DKB by Anna Kucera

2. You are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella, 2008 Synthetic polymer paint, watercolour, gouache and pen on polyester canvas, 280x180 Archibald winner

3. Hugo, 2013 Watercolour, gouache and acrylic on canvas 200x180 Archibald winner

4. Mother (a portrait of Cate), 2011, watercolour, gouache, acrylic and pen on polyester canvas 240x180 Archibald finalist

5. Come of things, 2010, synthetic polymer paint, gouache, watercolour and pen on polyester canvas, 240 x 360

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 34 Margaret Olley AC – a conversation with Professor Lisa Slade

This is a fascinating and impassioned insight into the life of one of Australia’s most beloved artists.

I’m talking with Professor Lisa Slade about the legendary Australian artist, Margaret Olley.

Professor Lisa Slade is the Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. She is both a curator and art historian and between 2015 and 2024 she was Assistant Director, Artistic Programs at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Until 2024 Lisa was Chair of The National Cultural Heritage Committee and between 2014 and 2019 she served as the Chair of Artlink Australia. She is a national voice for artists and art history with decades of experience as a keynote speaker, broadcaster, mentor and educator.

Margaret stands as one of Australia's most beloved and accomplished artists whose distinctive still life paintings and vibrant use of colour established her as a central figure in twentieth-century Australian art. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she held over 90 solo exhibitions. Margaret Olley developed a unique artistic voice that celebrated the beauty of everyday objects while maintaining deep connections to both European artistic traditions and the distinctive character of Australian life.

And, outside of her own work, it was what she did for art and artists generally through her benevolence and mentoring and much, much more, that is almost as astonishing.

Head to the link in my bio for our conversation

Instagram Images (more to follow)

Portrait Margaret Olley, Greg Weight 1991

Still life with pink fish, 1948, oil on cheesecloth on hardboard 76.3x97

Margaret Olley, William Dobell, 1948 oil on hardboard 114x85 Archibald winner

Portrait in the mirror, 1948 oil on hardboard 68x84

Chinese screen and yellow room 1996 oil on hardboard 75x75

Margaret Olley, Ben Quilty 2011 oil on linen 170x150 Archibald winner

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 33 Lottie Consalvo

Lottie Consalvo is one of Australia's most thought-provoking contemporary artists.

Through her abstract paintings, sculptures, video and performance works, she transcends the boundaries of the visible and tangible, pushing into the mind's capacity to explore the unbound possibilities of our existence and what lies beyond.

Lottie challenges conventional notions of reality and urges us to embrace what is unseen and unknown. She explores what she calls "the invisible world"—the realm of thought, imagination, dreams, and psychological states that exist beyond the tangible.

She’s had 19 solo shows and countless more group exhibitions and 15 performance-based works. In 2023 she was named as one of Australia’s 100 most collectable artists. She recently had her first solo show with her new gallery, Nanda Hobbs, and in 2025 she won the Muswellbrook Art Prize and was a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize.

Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to our conversation.

Images (most of which are referred to in our conversation):

1. Portrait by Ben Adams

2. Bouquet of hope 2025, acrylic on linen, 180x120cm

3. Do You Remember The Roses 2021, performance documentation

4. In Awe 2024, acrylic on hardboard, 160x140cm

5. Like a bell under water 2025, Single-channel video

6. Name-less (V) 2025, acrylic on archival paper, 59.4x42cm

7. RaRa 2025, acrylic on hardboard, 200x120cm

8. Sentimental 2025, acrylic on linen, 168x137cm