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Photo: Border Mail
Nat Ward is a contemporary Australian artist whose practice is grounded in sustained engagement with place. Working through painting, she develops long-form landscape projects shaped by repeated walking, observation and research within specific environments.
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Based in Albury, Nat’s work is informed by the bushland of Nailcan Hill and the Murray River corridor — landscapes she returns to over years rather than visits briefly. These locations are not treated as scenery, but as living systems, carrying ecological, historical and human presence.
Her paintings invite slow looking.
They move between micro and macro perspectives, drawing attention to often overlooked elements of the landscape: fragile growth, intricate entanglements, ambiguous forms and subtle colour shifts. Through this process, Nat seeks to open a deeper dialogue between viewer and environment, encouraging curiosity, attentiveness and a renewed respect for the complexity of place.
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Selected Exhibitions & Projects
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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.
As part of the ongoing Noreuil project and its international connections, Nat was presented with a French commemorative medal in Paris recognising the cultural and historical significance of the work.
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Awards & Recognition
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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.
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Artist Resumé
Nat Ward BFA (Canterbury University- major painting)
Commendations & Projects
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
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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
