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Photo: Border Mail
Nat Ward is a contemporary Australian artist based in Albury, whose painting practice is grounded in a deep and sustained connection to place. Through repeated walks and close observation of the Australian bush, particularly Nail Can Hill and the Murray River, she explores the subtle beauty, curious forms and intricate details of landscapes often overlooked.
Her paintings explore juxtapositions of form and light, bringing together delicate growth, unruly vegetation and shifting patterns of colour. Drawing on aspects of Divisionism, Nat uses small, deliberate brushstrokes to create a vibration of light and a sense of luminosity across the painted surface. The surface itself is integral to the work, its rhythms and accumulated marks echoing the natural complexity of the landscape.
Like the scrubland she observes, where disparate elements coexist in a seemingly haphazard yet compelling arrangement, her paintings find harmony in contrast, movement and irregularity.
Selected Exhibitions & Projects
Nat Ward has held solo exhibitions in Albury, Melbourne and Sydney, and her work has been presented through regional and metropolitan galleries.
Recent major projects include Noreuil (2024), a research-led solo exhibition at the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), developed over 2024–25. This body of work explored the historical and symbolic relationship between Albury’s Noreuil Park and the French village of Noreuil, commemorating Australian soldiers who fought in a pivotal World War I battle.
In 2026 the exhibition NOREUIL was taken to France to be part of the Anzac commemorations at Villiers Bretonneux and was exhibited at the Sir John Monash Centre for 3 months.
Awards & Recognition
Nat’s work has been widely recognised through Australian art prizes and awards. She has been a finalist in numerous major national prizes, including:
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Hadley’s Art Prize
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Geelong Contemporary Art Prize
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John Leslie Landscape Prize
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Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize
In 2025, Nat was awarded the John Villiers Outback Art Prize, and received Highly Commended in the Lethbridge Prize for Landscape.
Her work has also received multiple People’s Choice Awards and is held in public and private collections in Australia and internationally.
Artist Resumé
Nat Ward BFA (Canterbury University- major painting)
Represented by Flinders Lane Gallery Melbourne
Commendations & Projects
2026 Finalist Fisher's Ghost Prize
2026 Finalist John Leslie Prize for Landscape
2026 Finalist Lethbridge Small Scale Art Prize
2026 Finalist Fleureau Art Award
2026 Finalist Ravenswood Art Award
2026 Finalist Omnia Art Award
2026 Finalist Harden Art Award for Landscape
2026 Finalist Callenin Chambers Art Award
2025 Finalist Pymble Values art Prize
2025 Finalist KAAF Art Prize
2025 Finalist Defiance Art Award
2025 Finalist Fisher’s Ghost Prize
2025 Finalist MPCAP Art Prize
2025 Awarded une Medaille de Reconnaissance from the French Government for the Noreuil project
2025 Finalist Tatiara Art Prize
2025 Finalist Lane Cove Art Prize
2025 Finalist Lethbridge small scale award
2025 Highly Commended Lethbridge Prize for Landscape
2025 Finalist Omnia Art Prize
2025 Finalist Milburn Art Prize
2025 WINNER John Villiers Outback Prize
2025 Finalist Flanagan's Art prize
2025 Finalist John Villiers Outback prize
2024 Finalist Muswellbrook Art Prize
2023 Finalist KAAF Art Prize
2023 Finalist WAMA works on paper
2023 Finalist Ravenswood Art Prize for Women
2022 Finalist Regional Landscape Award
2022 Finalist Kangaroo Valley Art Prize
2022 Finalist Hadleys Art Prize for Landscape More
2022 Finalist (gallery) Lethbridge small scale prize
2021 Finalist KAAF art prize Sydney
2021 Finalist Geelong Contemporary Art Prize More
2020 Semi-finalist KAAF Art prize
2020 Cover of Autumn edition, Royal Botanical Gardens
2019 Winner, peoples choice Waverley Art Prize
2019 Finalist Waverley Art Prize
2019 Selected artist for Wodonga Ephemeral Project
2018 Finalist John Leslie Award for landscape
2017 Winner Trinity Acquisitive Art Award
2016 Public art (central Albury substation)
2016 Finalist Pro Hart Outback Award
2016 Feature artist, Trinity art award
2015 Highly commended Hume Art Award
2014 Finalist Hume Art Award 2012 Highly commended Hume Art Award
2012 Winner peoples choice (joint) Hume Art Award
2012 Selected artist, Wonga Wetlands Ephemeral Project
2012 Highly commended Chilton Art Award
Exhibitions
2026 Noreuil exhibition at The Sir John Monash Centre, Villiers Bretonneux, France
2026 Group Show ‘Abundance’ Flinders Lane Gallery
2025 MAMA Public Regional Gallery; Noreuil Project
2024 Group show Grainger Gallery
2023 Solo show Manyung Gallery Malvern
2023 Rochfort Gallery group show 2
2023 Korean Cultural Centre 10 year anniversary group show
2022 Solo show Manyung Gallery Malvern
2022 Group show; Interconnected; NERAM
2021 Solo show, Manyung gallery Malvern
2020 Sydney Royal Botanical Garden; Plants; group show
2019 Group show ‘Dolci’ Rochfort Gallery
2019 Two person show Manyung Gallery Flinders
2019 Solo show, Rochfort Gallery
2018 Group show ’Petals and Pods; Rochfort Gallery
2018 Group show; Land and Sea; Rochfort Gallery
2018 Group show; Whimsy; Rochfort Gallery
2016 Solo show MAMA Albury
