Bio, CV & Press — Stephanie Quirk

Stephanie Quirk (b. 1985, Awabakal and Worimi Country, Newcastle) is an emerging artist based in Illawarra, Dharawal Country, with her studio practice based on Sydney Gadigal land. She has exhibited in Wollongong, Sydney, and Wagga Wagga, as well as internationally in Canada and Italy.

She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) at Sydney College of the Arts in 2008, a Master of Fine Arts at Sydney College of the Arts in 2010 with Lindy Lee as her supervisor, and a Masters of Education at the University of Technology Sydney in 2013.

Highlights of her art career include winning Sculpture in the Garden Wollongong in 2025; a nomination for the Redlands Prize, nominated by Nike Savvas; an international artist residency in Italy; a university study exchange and subsequent exhibition in Canada; her recent solo exhibition in Wollongong; and her first public artwork and community engagement project, exhibited at Wollongong Town Hall for the Wollongong Culture Mix Festival.

Artist Statement

In my life and my art I pursue the sublime. I am drawn to challenging and awe-inspiring landscapes — climbing mountains, trekking deserts, walking rivers. I find connection in these experiences with the power of art in helping us to form a stronger understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. Making collaborative, participatory and immersive public artworks, I bring my experiences of the sublime to create moments of pause, initiate connection to place and self, and spark curiosity through our surroundings.

Recently I have moved inwards, sensing a vast oceanic void within myself. The immaterial world, expanded awareness and consciousness elicits a need to bring forward and make material this inner room. The immediacy of new raw materials; pigment, bronze, living elements, acts to stand in for the sense of aliveness I feel.

My material practice oscillates between large-scale, joyous public-facing sculptural and painting installations, alongside smaller, intimate and personal paintings on canvas and paper. I use luminous colours, bold shapes, and stylised imagery. My stylistic approach imbues and shares my own childlike wonder and excitement of the colours and places I see, aiming to evoke a sense of fun, joy and renewed imagination in the viewer.