Contemporary Australian artist, Jacqui Armstrong
ARTIST BIO
Contemporary Australian artist Jacqui Armstrong has experienced a keen interest in the visual arts since she was young, and spent much of her youth consuming art books, visiting galleries and admiring the works of Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh and Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali. Originally from the United Kingdom, Jacqui grew up on the north west coast of Tasmania and moved to Sydney in 1982. She now resides in Perth, since moving there in 2010.
For several decades, Jacqui's time was heavily consumed with the demands of child raising, relocations and running a successful small business. In 2020, when the global COVID-19 pandemic began, she discovered that the hours in her once previously busy schedule were suddenly empty and unhindered. Consequentially, she started to paint again for the first time in many years, and her practice quickly began to flourish. Unfiltered by any degree of formal education, her creative process derives from her instinctual responses and perceptions and, over time, her works have evolved from experimentation and engaging in workshops with Australian and international artists.
Drawn to the liberal and free-forming expression of abstract, Jacqui utilises it to convey uniquely personal and resonating narratives. Through exploring the style's limitless parameters, she's been inspired by the works of German abstract artist Petra Schott and Mexican artist Beatriz Simón.
Since 2020, her works have appeared in numerous exhibitions and art awards in Perth and regional WA, and have been featured in Havenist, Artistcloseup and Art Edit magazines. In 2025, Jacqui was shortlisted for the Claremont Art Awards and her painting ‘A Quiet Place’, was recognised by the judges as ‘Highly Commended’.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Jacqui Armstrong's dynamic abstracts convey distinct and deeply personal stories, derived from her everyday encounters and experiences. Beginning with a narrative that initially forms and relentlessly remains in her mind's eye, she becomes compelled to portray it on the canvas in a bold and evoking manner. Her stories cover diverse and far-reaching facets of her life by exploring personal family connections, emotional tribulations and the ingenuity of her organic environment.
Encompassing an amplitude of colours, textures and layers, Jacqui's works are created through the application of mixed media on stretched canvas. Much of the colour work is deposited with sizeable brushes on large-scale canvases, and added texturisations are achieved with a variety of tools that produce unique interest and scope. When viewed concurrently, these well-balanced components reveal contrasting colour relationships, compelling shapes and atmospheric undercurrents.
With the desire to instigate stirring connections between her art and her viewers, Jacqui produces emotionally charged and considered compositions. With an attraction to the aspects and tenets of her stories that are universal and unify us, she creates with a focused interest in the themes of love and empathy, wonder and grief, beauty and passion.
CURRICULUM VITAE
CONTACT
PROFILE
I am a contemporary artist living and working in Perth, Western Australia.
My work is driven by intuition, song and a love of colour and shapes. I find inspiration for the stories I paint in my everyday encounters. In my mother's bravery as she battles cancer. In the bright patch of mushrooms sprouting beneath a canopy of leaves. In celebrating those who inspire me and in the wondrous ingenuity of nature. Inspiring stories are everywhere you care to look.
For me, the power of story is its ability to connect us. While we each hold a distinct perspective and live our own inimitable narratives, there are common tenets that unite us. Love and grief, empathy and wonder, beauty and passion.
EXHIBITIONS & FEATURES
2020 Tresillian Art Centre ‘Student and Tutors Exhibition’ 2 -18 October
2021 Bluethumb Large Statement Art - Featured Artist and staff selections
2021 Art Upmarket, WA - Exhibitor 16 October.
2021 Art Marx Gallery Fremantle ‘Setting the Tone’ 16 December – 17 January
2021 Cossack Gallery, Cossack, WA ‘Hello-Goodbye’ 19 December – 10 February
2022 European Concepts, Artist In Residence Perth, WA - 10 January – 7 March
2022 GHS & St Hilda’s OSA Art Exhibition 27 January – 1 July
2022 Art Marx Gallery – ‘Waters Edge’ 12 March - 10 April
2022 Art Marx Gallery - ‘Light Flows’ 23 April - 22 May
2022 Regal Concept Design – ‘Awash in Wanderlust’ : A series 20 May - 11 July
2022 Cossack Art Awards 17th July - 7 August
2022 Art Marx Gallery – ‘Transitional Thoughts’ 16 September – 16 October
2022 Art Upmarket, WA - Exhibitor 15 October
2022 GHS & St Hilda’s OSA Art Exhibition - Exhibitor 27 - 30 October
2022 White Brick Gallery, Joint exhibition 16 November - 26 November
2023 ‘Havenist Magazine’ ISSUE #3 - Featured statement work ’Jellyfish III’ Autumn/Winter (Page 92).
2023 White Brick Gallery, Joint Perth Abstract Artists 16 May – 16 August
2023 Art Marx Gallery – ‘Transition Exhibition’ 9 June – 30 June
2023 Artist Close-Up Magazine ISSUE#8 ‘Neon Planet’ featured on the cover.
2023 Cossack Art Awards 23 July - 13 August
2023 Town of Claremont ‘Art Awards and Exhibition’ 12 – 27 August
2023 Upmarket Fair WA Exhibitor 14 October
2023 GHS & St Hilda’s OSA Art Exhibition - Exhibitor 26 October – 29 October
2024 The Agency Gallery Solo Exhibition 29 January - 3 February
2024 Havenist Magazine’ ISSUE #4 Featured work ’Jellyfish IV’ Kitchen inspiration Guide (Page 56).
2024 Art To Art ‘Unearthed Art Prize’ Finalist - Melbourne February 29
2024 Artist In Residence - European Concepts, Perth - 31 May – 5 July
2024 GHS & St Hilda’s OSA Art Exhibition Exhibitor 24 – 27 October
2024 The Agency Gallery Solo Exhibition November (tbc)
2025 Gallows Gallery, WA ‘XXIV’ joint exhibition 4-14 February
2025 Town of Claremont Art Awards - Awarded ‘Highly Commended’ by the judges.
2025 GHS & St Hilda’s OSA Art Exhibition. - Exhibitor