ABOUT
STARR
'STARR CONVEYS A VIGOROUS NEW WAVE SENSIBILITY ...'
'... PAINTERLY PANACHE WITH POP ATTITUDE'
MARIE R PAGANO (GALLERY AND STUDIO MAGAZINE NEW YORK)
Starr is a contemporary Australian painter whose work sits between Magical Realism and expressionism.
A graduate of Queensland College of Art, Starr has been exhibiting for more than 25 years.
Her work has been shown and collected throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States, including a permanent display at La Nouvelle Eve in Paris.
Colour has always been at the heart of Starr’s work. Her paintings are bold, romantic and full of movement, built through energetic brushwork, layered surfaces and an instinctive response to light.
Familiar people, landscapes and places often become heightened through colour and imagination, moving somewhere between the real and the dreamlike.
An incurable romantic, Starr finds inspiration in love, travel, landscape, the ballet, the female form and the whimsical and fantastical.
Fairytale imagery, popular culture and contemporary life often meet within the same painting. This is especially evident in her continuing Alice in Wonderland series, where a familiar character moves through an ever-changing world of colour, symbolism and imagination.
“My paintings are my ultimate fairy tale splashed across the canvas, capturing my freedom and passion as an artist in the brightest and boldest colours imaginable.”
Starr continues to exhibit in Australia and internationally.
Following her 2025 artist residency in France, her 2026 program has included the Affordable Art Fair Brisbane, the Affordable Art Fair Melbourne and a new series for La Nouvelle Eve in Paris, with the Affordable Art Fair Sydney still to come.
Her work is available through selected galleries and directly through Starr Fine Art.
EDUCATION
1990 - 1994
Bachelor of Visual Art – Fine Art – Queensland College of Art (Griffith University)– Queensland
AWARDS
Finalist
Lethbridge 10 000 Small Scale Art Award – 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020
Finalist
Brisbane Rotary Art Prize – 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019
Winner
Art 57 Sydney – 2011
Finalist
Tattersall’s Landscape Prize – 2009
Winner
Minister's Award for Excellence in Art - 1989
EXHIBITIONS
2026
Affordable Art Fair Brisbane
Affordable Art Fair Melbourne
New Series | La Nouvelle Eve | Paris, France
Affordable Art Fair Sydney | Upcoming
2025
Artist Residency | France
2023
'Swept Away' Ipswich Atelier - QLD
Artist in Residence - La Nouvelle Eve - PARIS, FRANCE
2022
'Underland' (With Darren Jew) Red Hill Gallery - QLD
2021
Solo 'Jardin' Red Hill Gallery - QLD
2020
Solo 'Australiana' Red Hill Gallery - QLD
River City - Group exhibition - Redhill Gallery - QLD
Solo 'London vs. Paris' Moulton Galleries - NSW
2019
Group Exhibition | Moulton Galleries – NSW
2018
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – QLD
Solo | La Nouvelle Eve – Paris, France
2017
Solo | Pop-up Exhibition ‘Fleur’ – Red Hill Gallery – QLD
Ceramics Launch – ‘I Heart The Stars’ – QLD
2016
Solo | Red Hill Gallery - QLD
2015
Solo | Pop Up – Red Hill Gallery - QLD
2014
Solo | ‘Wanderlust’ Red Hill Gallery – QLD
Group Exhibition | Traffic Jam Galleries – NSW
Solo | Framed Gallery – Darwin NT
2013
Solo | Traffic Jam Galleries – NSW
Solo | Tosari Art Gallery – Toowoomba QLD
2012
Group Exhibition | Traffic Jam Galleries – NSW
Solo | Traffic Jam Galleries – NSW
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – QLD
2011
Urban Passion, Group Exhibition | Traffic Jam Gallery – Neutral Bay NSW
Spectacle and Observer, Group Exhibition | Traffic Jam Gallery – Neutral Bay NSW
Solo | Fusion Fine Art Gallery – Perth WA
Solo | Tosari Art Gallery – Toowoomba QLD
2010
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
2009
Solo | Framed Gallery – Darwin NT
Group Exhibition | Moulton Gallery – Gold Coast QLD
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
2008
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
2007
Group Exhibition | Infusion Gallery – Los Angeles USA
Group Exhibition | Framed Gallery – Darwin NT
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
2006
Group Exhibition | ‘Australian Style’ – Galerie Dauphin Singapore
Group Exhibition | Agora Gallery – New York USA
Solo | Framed Gallery Darwin NT
Solo | Emporium Gallery Brisbane
Group Exhibition | ‘Postcards from the Edge’ – New York USA
2005
Solo | Galerie Dauphin – Singapore
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
Group Exhibition | Lynne Wilton Gallery - Melbourne
‘Checkers’ Group | Framed Gallery – Darwin NT
Judge/Featured Artist | Nundah Art Prize – Brisbane+
2004
Solo | Galerie Dauphin – Singapore
Group Exhibition | Agora Gallery – New York USA
Solo | Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
2003
Solo | ‘I Can Be Colourful’ – Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
Group Exhibition | True Blue – Framed Gallery – Darwin
2002
‘Designing Women’ – Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane
‘Introduction Down Under’ – Galerie Dauphin – Singapore (featuring Judith Laws and Rex Backhaus-Smith)
Solo | ‘Standing on a Beach’ – Cool-Art Gallery – Sunshine Coast
2001
‘Emerging Artists’ – Red Hill Gallery – Brisbane (featuring John Beeman, Colley Whisson, Richard Bogusz )
‘In the Garden’ – Starfish Gallery – Woody Point
1999
Pop Art Exhibition – Universal Bar/Restaurant – Brisbane
1998
Group Exhibition | Metro Art Space – Brisbane
RESIDENCIES
May 2006
Darwin, NT
June 2007
Kangaroo Valley, NSW
CORPORATE COMMISSIONS
CSIRO (Canberra)
Department of Transport (Qld)
Xerox (Qld) – West End Offices Brisbane
Security Mailing (Sydney and Brisbane)
Conoco Phillips (NT)
Limited Edition Prints for Xenor Pty Ltd (four prints commissioned for Australia wide release)
Specially commissioned works for book and CD covers:
‘Introduction to Marketing’ (Dann and Dann) 2005 John Wiley and sons Australia
‘Consumer Behaviour’ (Solomon, Dann, Dann, Bennett) 2006 Pearson Publisher
‘Gypsy’ CD Cover – Phil Lewis – La Guns USA
Wine labels for Vinex P/L for use on the ‘Two Souls’ range of wines exported to the USA
Nak Hair Products – Campaign centred on Starr’s self portrait titled ‘Not all There’