Kathy Liu

Kathy Liu is an Eora/Sydney-based contemporary artist whose intuitive approach to abstract painting invites an enchanting, ethereal and entirely singular mix of fluid and figurative forms. Casting the canvas as a conduit for her adventures through imaginative worlds, Liu’s open-ended process embraces serendipitous possibilities as amorphous pools of abstract colour begin to coalesce and enigmatic, inchoate figures emerge through diaphanous wafts of colour. Suggesting hazy memories, nocturnal musings or half-remembered dreams, the resulting works pulse with poeticism, emotion, a sense of magic and effervescent movement.

“I start my paintings abstractly, thinking of surface, composition, colour, et cetera,” says Liu. “These abstract elements connect with a feeling or bring out a blurry impression, which is quite personal. It’s like there’s an undercurrent behind these abstract elements, so the painting suggests a potential narrative … as if I’m presenting a question without a fixed answer. I am happy without knowing the answer.”

Represented in the stable of our flagship Eora/Sydney gallery and recently announced as a finalist in this year’s Waverley Art Prize, contemporary painter Kathy Liu will makes her Newport gallery debut with Mirage. The rising art star’s forthcoming exhibition follows a much-admired trifecta of large-scale presentations at Michael Reid Sydney, including her entirely sold-out 2025 solo debut and her celebrated showing in the 2024 edition of the gallery’s annual Painting Now program. Since her breakout turn as a National Emerging Art Prize finalist, Liu has garnered acclaim for a distinctive, intuitive approach to abstract painting that remains porous to chance possibilities. Suggesting hazy memories, nocturnal musings or half-remembered dreams, her paintings pulse with poeticism, emotion and effervescent movement.