Australian Women Artists

Australian Women Artists
 
The Podcast
 
Ep 56.  Caroline Walls
 
Today on the podcast I’m very excited to be joined by Melbourne based contemporary artist Caroline Walls. 
 Caroline’s work explores the emotional lives of women through really bold but pared-back forms, and it centres on the female body, intimacy and ‘the emotional texture of everyday life’. Her paintings, drawings and sculptures sit between abstraction and figuration and the figures, at first glance appear to be simple flowing lines and rich, earthy tones. But her work makes you stop, look and... feel. 
 It’s quite extraordinary how her paintings exude such an intimacy through their pared back images. 
 She has a background in design and spent years living between London and New York. That period exposed her to elements that would later surface in her own studio work through bold silhouettes and controlled colour.
 She made the enormous decision to return to Australia to undertake studies at the Victorian College of Arts...which brought immediate recognition and changed the course of her life’s journey. 
 It’s a really interesting discussion about how her practice has evolved and how her experiences as an Australian woman and mother shape the images she now creates. 
 Caroline has an exhibition 'She Once Was'which runs till March 7, 2026 at Olsen Annexe, Sydney, Australia. Make sure you have a look if you’re in Sydney and you’ll see firsthand what we’re talking about in this conversation. 
 
To hear our conversation, head to the link in my bio or wherever you find your podcasts. 
To see some of her works you can also head to her website:
www.carolinewalls.com
 
Caroline’s solo exhibition can be seen @olsen_gallery @olsen_annexe
Images supplied by artist
1 & 2 CW 
3 All Day Long
4 Seasons 
5 To Know What to Say
6 Into Your Arms
7 Are You With Me Now
8 Keeping Time
9 She Once Was

Australian Women Artists
The podcast
Ep. 55 Prudence Flint
Prudence Flint is one of Australia’s most compelling contemporary painters.
For more than three decades, Prudence has been painting seemingly ordinary women in ordinary everyday interiors undertaking ordinary tasks.  And the effect is extraordinary.
The paintings are imbued with a stillness and the subjects are caught...almost mid thought. And that is quite captivating. Those (often) solitary figures captured in private moments away from the male gaze. 
Her work is fabulous, engaging and thought provoking and very recognisable. 
She has held solo exhibitions in London, Dublin, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart and has exhibited in major state and regional galleries. She is a seven-time finalist in the Archibald Prize. She won the Len Fox Painting Award (2016), the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2010), and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2004). 
In 2023, Prudence’s work featured in the NGV Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria. Her work is held by collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, City of Port Phillip, Artbank, BHP Billiton, City of Gold Coast, University of Wollongong, Castlemaine Art Museum, X Museum, and numerous private collections. 
It was a great conversation and to hear it, head to the link in my bio above. 

Prudence is represented by @fineartssydney
Image: PF by Karina Dias Pires

Australian Women Artists
 
The podcast 
 
Ep. 53 Carly le Cerf
 
Over the last decade, I think it would be fair to say that Carly le Cerf has become one of the most quietly compelling voices in contemporary Australian landscape painting. 
Her paintings exude atmosphere and exhibit a beautiful balance of abstraction and observation. Her approach to colour, atmosphere and, I guess, stillness is what makes Carly le Cerf’s paintings so special and the reason behind her commanding a significant amount of collecting attention.
Her inspiration was the, at times, overwhelming desert landscapes of the Pilbara. Those experiences and the influences on her work were profound. We discussed her creative processes in detail which was fascinating. Having seen her work recently at the Sydney Contemporary, I can vouch for the fact that you are drawn into the painting - it’s hard to explain. Her work is often done from an aerial perspective with very little, if any, skyline so the imposing landscape almost hits you in the face and causes you to look quite deeply into it. 
It was also interesting talking about her Blue Mountains residency which meant a whole new colour palette and a whole new range of issues to resolve. She's done it brilliantly.
 
Head to the link in my bio to listen to her episode. 
 
Carly is represented by Michael Reid Galleries and has an exhibition at Michael Reid Murrurundi (with Julz Beresford in partnership with R.M. Williams) in May 2026. 
 
 
Images
1.   Cerly le Cerf
2.   Into Her Mystic 2023, 120 x 120
3.   Oasis 2022, 104 x 288
4.   Looking Out Over Redgums, 2025, 180 x 120
5.   Wayfinding, 2025, 180 x 120
6.   A Painters Path, 2025, 180 x 120
7.   That Alluring Diamond Haze, 2025, 120 x 90