Natalie Lavelle is a Meanjin / Brisbane based artist working across abstract painting, installation, and public art. Drawing on the histories of Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, and colour field painting, her practice examines conventional interpretations of abstraction through the material and physical properties of painting. Through the objecthood of painting and gestural formalist negotiations, her works consider their relationship to architecture, the human body, and bodily perception.
Natalie holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours Class I) from the Queensland College of Art, where she was awarded the Zonta Club Brisbane River Acquisitive Prize. She has exhibited throughout Australia and internationally, including at Outer Space, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Five Walls, Saint Cloche, IN | ARI, Galeria Azur (Berlin), and the Royal Queensland Art Society, where she received the Abstraction Art Prize. Her work is held in public and private collections including Artbank, Queensland Children's Hospital, The Justin Art House Museum, and Hervey Bay Regional Gallery.
Alongside her studio practice, Natalie has developed public art projects and site-responsive works across Queensland, expanding her interest in the relationship between painting, architecture, and public space. She maintains a studio at The Paint Factory in Yeronga, Brisbane, and has worked extensively in visual arts education. Natalie is represented by Jan Manton Gallery, Brisbane.
CV
EDUCATION
2020 Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) Class I, Queensland College of Art
2019 Bachelor of Fine Art, Queensland College of Art
2016 Diploma of Visual Art, Tafe Queensland
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Field Work, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe
2025 Sensate, Good Grief Studios, Hobart (TAS)
2025 In The Making, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery (Qld)
2024 Total Other, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe (Qld)
2023 Flesh For Fantasy, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe
2022 Ways of Being, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe
2021 Pictorial Space, Five Walls, Footscray (VIC)
2021 Physical Perception, STABLE Artspace partnered with Brisbane Art Design, Kangaroo Point
2021 Rekindle, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe
2020 Deliberate Pictures, Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe
2020 Flatform, Grey Street Gallery, Queensland College of Art
2019 Brushstrokes on Paper, Zonta Club of Brisbane, West End
2018 Dark Nuance, The Third Quarter, Petrie Terrace (Qld)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Outer Space Auction, Outer Space, Fortitude Valley (Qld)
2025 Ten Fold, Side Gallery, Red Hill (Qld)
2025 To be continued by TBC Collective, Vacant Assembly, West End (Qld)
2024 Outer Space Auction, Outer Space, Fortitude Valley
2024 About Nothing, IN | ARI The Old Lock Up, Maroochydore (Qld)
2024 Absent, Vacant Assembly, West End
2023 Outer Space Auction, Outer Space, Fortitude Valley
2023 ABSTRACTI♀︎N, Five Walls, Footscray (VIC)
2022 Interlude, Galeria Azur, Berlin (GER)
2022 Coast to Coast, Saint Cloche, Paddington (NSW)
2022 Brisbane Club Members Exhibition, Brisbane Club
2021 Something More, Outer Space, Fortitude Valley
2021 Look At/Look Through, Byron School of Art, Mullumbimby (NSW)
2020 Loom, Side Gallery, Red Hill
2020 Honours Graduate Exhibition, Queensland College of Art
2020 Abstraction, Royal Queensland Art Society
2020 Boiling Point, The Third Quarter, Petrie Terrace (Qld)
2019 Materiality, Agency and the Body, Webb Gallery, Queensland College of Art
2018 Undergraduate Exhibition, Queensland College of Art
2018 Green, Percolator Gallery, Paddington (Qld)
2018 Expanded, POP Gallery, Woolloongabba (Qld)
AWARDS
2026 Finalist - Du Rietz Art Awards, Gympie Regional Gallery (Qld)
2024-25 Finalist - Redland Art Award, Redland Art Gallery (Qld)
2023 Finalist - Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Art Gallery (NSW)
2022 Finalist - Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, 60th Annual, Campbelltown Arts Centre (NSW)
2020 Winner - Abstraction Art Prize Exhibition, Royal Queensland Art Society
2018 Winner - The Zonta Club Brisbane River Acquisitive Prize, Queensland College of Art
2017-19 Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in Fine Art – Queensland College of Art
PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2023 Public Art Professional, Queensland Rail: Simon Degroot, Nundah Train Station (Qld)
2023 Public Art Mentor, Queensland College of Art, Auchenflower Train Station Mural (Qld)
2022 Public Art Professional, Arts in Health: Xoe Mazzoni, St Vincent’s Private Hospital Mural (Qld)
2022 Public Art Mentor, Queensland College of Art, John Reid Pavilion Mural (Qld)
2020 Public Art Professional, iAM Projects: Kyra Mancktelow, Ipswich (Qld)
2020 Public Art Professional, Museum of Brisbane (MoB), The Storytellers Exhibition (Qld)
2019 Public Art Professional, iAM Projects: Sam Songailo, Ipswich (Qld)
2019 Public Art Professional, Griffith University Integrity 20: Ms Saffaa, Fish Lane (Qld)
2019 Public Art Project, Mindful Trace, Queensland Children’s Hospital
2018 Public Art Professional, Queensland Rail: Simon Degroot, Brisbane
2018 Public Art Professional, W Hotel: Lucas Grogan, Brisbane
TEACHING & ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2023- Visual Art Teacher, Tafe Queensland, South Bank
2022 Sessional Tutor - Painting, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
2021 Facilitator, Griffith University Art Museum (Qld)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018 Richard Bell Studio Assistant, Milani Gallery, Yeronga Studios (Qld)
2018 Installation - The 9th Asian Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Gallery of Modern Art
2018 Installation, Research and Gallery Services - Griffith University Art Museum
2018 Internship - Griffith University Art Museum and Collections Office
2017 Make Your Mark - QCA Webb Centre Mural, Queensland College of Art
2016 Visual Art and Set Design Team - Brisbane Festival
COLLECTIONS
Artbank, Gadigal / Sydney (NSW)
Queensland Children's Hospital, Meanjin / Brisbane (Qld)
Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Hervey Bay (Qld)
The Justin Art House Museum, Naarm / Melbourne (VIC)
Lexus, Rockhampton (Qld)
Various corporate and private collections
ORGANISATIONS
2018 Member - National Association of Visual Arts (NAVA)
PUBLICATIONS
Baker, Isabella. Soft edges, shimmering planes. In Field Work | Natalie Lavelle, Jan Manton Gallery, July 2025. (PDF). Lavelle, Natalie. Natalie Lavelle: Sensate. Exhibition essay for Sensate, Good Grief Studios, May 2025. (PDF).Dias-Jayasinha, Elena. See more, hear more, feel more; Matthews, Zali. The lightness of colour, the weight of clouds, and; Bakharia, Tess. Deconstructing Colour – Black & White Works. In Natalie Lavelle: In the Making, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, February 2025. (PDF). Cassidy, Dr. Camilla. Nothing; Exhibition essay for About Nothing, IN | ARI, August 2024. (PDF).Thomas, Dr. David M. Flesh For Fantasy: An Exhibition of Works by Natalie Lavelle. In Flesh For Fantasy, Jan Manton Gallery, May 2023. (PDF).Mayhew, Dr. Louise R. Ways of Being: Natalie Lavelle. In Ways of Being, Jan Manton Gallery, March 2022. (PDF).Matthews, Zali. Silhouettes of a Rectangle. Published on Fivewalls.com.au, September 2021. (PDF).Hall, Taylor. Under Her Skin. Exhibition essay for Something More, June 2021. (PDF).Bai, Dr. Paul. Painting in Space. Published on Outerspacebrisbane.org, June 2021. (PDF).Matthews, Zali. The Weight of Paint. In Rekindle, Jan Manton Gallery, 2021. (PDF).O’Brien, Jonathan. Lavelle. In Physical Perception, Stable Artspace, 2021. (PDF).