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About

About

Stacey Bennett

Stacey Bennett is an award-winning, pastel and street chalk artist based in Jimboomba, QLD, Australia. Drawing portraiture since the young age of 11, Stacey has always been interested in human faces and their stories. She believes every life has a purpose and a unique story that needs to be captured and documented. Stacey graduated high school with a Very High Achievement in Art and has continued to work within the creative industries for over 14 years. 

2020 was the year Stacey shifted her visual arts practice to a professional status.  She was recently awarded the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund and BEMAC Creative Booster 2.0 grants and became a gallery finalist in both the Foot Square and Petite Pieces Exhibitions at Aspire Gallery.

In 2021, she won the People’s Choice Award at the Jimboomba Art Show for her piece As Simple as Bubble” and was an exhibiting artist at the Art+Beer event,  the first of a series of live, multidisciplinary art events across Logan.  

In 2022, Stacey won the Jimboomba Art Show in the modern category for her piece "Reflections of Anticipation". 

In 2023 she was selected to present her work "The Butterfly Effect" as part of the inaugural Logan City Council Slacks Creek lighting projection exhibition. 

Working with pastels and chalks, she finds freedom in a vibrant colour pallet; contrasting colours and tones play a big part in her work. Her pieces take the viewers on a journey of whimsical wonderment and dream-like exploration.

She combines realism and expressive abstraction, to encourage viewers to find their own meaning in her pieces.

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Many of Stacey’s work are in private collections around Australia.

Exhibitions

  • 2024 Jimboomba Art Show
  • 2023 Slacks Creek Lighting Projection by Logan City Council
  • 2023 Jimboomba Art Show
  • 2023 Embracing Diversity Group Exhibition
  • 2022 Jimboomba Art Show - Winner Modern Category
  • 2021 Art+Beer - group exhibition
  • 2021 Jimboomba Art Show, People's Choice Award winner
  • 2021 Petite Pieces Gallery Finalist, Aspire Gallery
  • 2020 Foot Square Finalist and Voter’s Choice Runner up, Aspire Gallery
  • 2019 Pet’s Exhibition, The Centre Art Gallery, Beaudesert
  • 2018 Jimboomba Art Show
  • 2017 Jimboomba Art Show

Awards/Grants/Prizes

  • 2024 Yarram Chalk Art Festival - People's Choice Winner
  • 2022 Jimboomba Art Show - Winner Modern Category
  • 2021 Jimboomba Art Show - People's Choice Award Winner
  • 2020 BEMAC Creative Booster 2.0 Grant recipient
  • 2020 Australian Government Regional Arts Fund Grant recipient
  • 2018 Mont Marte Competition Winner

Commissions

  • 2023 "You Left a Paw Print on our Hearts"
  • 2022 "Glen and Steve"
  • 2020 “Together in Spirit”
  • 2020 “Lola”
  • 2020 “Until we Meet Again”
  • 2019 “Teddy”
  • 2019 “Ava”
  • 2019 “Cheeky”
  • 2018 “Doug”
  • 2018 “Chateau de Chenonceau”
  • 2018 “Niece”
  • 2018 “Father and Son”
  • 2017 “The Guard Cat”

Festivals

  • 2024 Winter Harvest Festival, Scenic Rim
  • 2024 Yarram Chalk Art Festival

Artist Statement

As a pastel and charcoal artist, I’m interested in the physical process of creating art. Using my hands as tools to move and blend the dust, to layer the colours and add contrast. The mediums allow me to immerse myself in the act of creating, giving me a way to connect with, and unleash my inner-artist. To work with curiosity and optimism.

I’m guided by instinct. I pick my subjects based on a primal urge to explore our humanity and find meaning and comfort in our surroundings. Music helps me surrender to the creative process, guiding not only my hand, but my whole self–to tap into the heart of my subject.

To date, I’ve experimented with realism and expression. First, finding inspiration in the stories of neurodiverse artists such as Vincent Fantauzzo. His portraits are refreshingly raw and honest. And like Vincent, I’m drawn to the hidden stories behind each face.

I find charcoal honest. Reducing subjects to shadows and light, allowing me to use contrast meaningfully. It forces me to focus on facial gestures and lines to share the character of the person I’m capturing. While with pastels, I find freedom in a vibrant colour pallet, where I can work symbolically and highlight our inner duplicity and struggles.

Now, influenced by the bold sensuality of artists like Francoise Nielly, my newest work combines abstraction and loose realism. I’m experimenting with mediums. Adding oils into my charcoal and pastel work, to create expressive portraits and landscapes.

Featuring cool, dark tones and embellishment of warm, natural light, my landscapes are moody, thoughtful and uplifting. While my portraits are bold and empowering, allowing viewers to be themselves. To feel, to connect, to find hope and to trust their own instincts.