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Kristine Ballard is a contemporary painter known for her bold colour palette, expressive brushwork and sustained commitment to capturing moments of presence. Working primarily across still life and landscape, her paintings invite close observation and offer space to pause, reflect and reconnect.
In an increasingly fast-paced and visually saturated world, Ballard paints not just what she sees, but what is often overlooked — moments of vibrancy, joy and quiet richness within everyday life. Her distinctive approach, which she refers to as Fragmatism, fractures and reassembles form through layers of colour, evoking the shifting nature of memory and perception. Her still life works, in particular, transform familiar objects into contemplative studies of light, time and emotional resonance.
Ballard has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, including in France, New York, Fiji and Singapore. Her solo exhibitions — Curated Colour, Chasing Colour and Latitude — reflect an ongoing dialogue between inner experience and the external world.
Her practice has been shaped by a number of significant residencies and awards, including the NG Art Residency in France, the Nancy Fairfax Artist Residency at Tweed Regional Gallery, and a scholarship to The Art Students League in New York. Through her work, Ballard invites viewers to slow down and attend to the quiet power of being present.
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“Morning at Maggie’s was created during my residency at the Tweed Regional Gallery, where time slowed and the simple act of observation became a daily ritual. This still life brings together objects found on site—a tin vase tucked away in a corner, local blooms, and a morning coffee sipped while watching the light shift across the landscape.
“These elements were not arranged for aesthetic value alone—they were discovered, connected to place, imbued with the warmth of stillness and solitude. The distant landscape, visible from the balcony, merges into the composition as a gentle presence, anchoring the work in the natural radiance of the region. The reflection of the coffee cup in the vase becomes a distortion, suggesting memory, movement, and the layered nature of perception.
“My practice explores the idea of presence — of being truly grounded in the moment. Through expressive colour and my signature Fragmatism style, I aim to fracture and reassemble the familiar, capturing not just how something looks, but how it feels to witness it.
“Morning at Maggie’s is an unabashed celebration of the everyday. It spotlights the beauty of pausing, of noticing, of allowing the ordinary to become extraordinary. In this work, the humble objects of daily life are transformed into vessels of reflection—offering viewers a space to reconnect with their own sense of stillness, wonder, and presence.”
Kristine Ballard, 2024.
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