Patricia Abela is a multidisciplinary artist based in the Blue Mountains, a World Heritage National Park.
Patricia Abela is a multidisciplinary artist based in the Blue Mountains, a World Heritage National Park.
www.patriciaabela.com
info@patriciaabela.com
Founder and Director of the Vanuatu Art Project
AWARDS
2025 Awarded solo environmental exhibition by the Argotti Botanical Gardens and University of Malta, Floriana, Malta, 2025 . Proudly sponsored and special thanks to the High Commission of Australia for Malta, La Vallette Social Centre and HSBC Bank.
2023 Awarded Artist in Residency Programme at Spazju Kreattiv for 2023, Valletta, Malta
2018 Prize winner, Off The Wall Exhibition, Blackheath, Australia
2018 Commended in the Blackheath Art Prize, Blackheath, Australia
1994 Jean Wright Memorial Scholarship, University of Newcastle, Australia
EDUCATION
Julian Aston Art School - beginning 2023 and currently studying under James Tucker
Bachelor of Arts Visual Arts (University of Newcastle)
Graduate Diploma of Art (University of Newcastle)
Graduate Diploma of Education (University of Western Sydney)
Introduction to Being a Teaching Artist, Understanding Teaching Artistry, Understanding Teaching Artists Projects and Matching Teaching Artist capabilities with Teaching Artists Projects (Kadenze Academy, California, Sydney Opera House, Australia, Lincoln Education Centre, New York City and the Queensland Centre of performing Arts)
Art & Activity Course: Interactive Strategies for Engaging with Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Regeneration with Fire, sculpture workshop with Harrie Fasher, Western Sydney University, Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra Lithgow Transformation Hub, Lithgow, Australia
Let’s Get Digital Workshop: projection mapping, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Australia
Random Weave, Harriet Goodall, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Blue Mountains, Australia
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Loru Conservation Park artworks, Works in the Window on Govetts, Blue Mountains, Australia
2024 Loru, Loru My Heart is Calling You, Barrier Beach Resort, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
2023 Beguiled, Valletta Design Cluster, Valletta, Malta
2022 Govetts Leap Landscapes, Works in the Window on Govetts, Blue Mountains, Australia
2022 Hopeville, Tournament, Blue Mountains, Australia
2022 Impermanence, Works in the Window on Govetts, Blue Mountains, Australia
2021 Fire, Mere Gallery, Hartley, Australia
2020 Observations, Tournament, Blue Mountains, Australia
2019 Giving Up the Ghost, Semi Space, Beijing, China
2019 Coexistence, Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens, Mount Tomah, Australia
RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Finalist in the Julian Ashton Art School online exhibition, Australia
2023 What’s that Skip, Way Out, Kandos, Australia
2023 Together or Otherwise A (Part), Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Australia
2023 Falling from the Sky, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2023 Collectors’ Edition #9, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia
2022 Finalist in the Blue Mountains Portraits Exhibition, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia
2022 Finalist in the Blacktown City Art Prize, Blacktown, Australia
2022 Collectors’ Edition #8, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia
2022 Regeneration by Fire, The Foundations, Portland, Australia
2022 Transformation, Western Sydney University, Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra Lithgow Transformation Hub, Lithgow, Australia
2021 BRAGS Art Fair, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, Australia
2021 Street Scene Project, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia
2021 Call of the Running Tide, Environmental Sculpture and Multi Media Festival, Port Douglas, Australia
2020 Out of the Fire: Resilience in the Face of Natural Disaster, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia
2019 Call of the Running Tide, Environmental Sculpture and Multi Media Festival, Port Douglas, Australia
2019 Finalist in the Blacktown Art Prize, Blacktown, Australia
2019 Finalist in the Hounslow Photographic Prize, Blackheath, Australia
2018 Finalist in the Blackheath Art Prize, Blackheath, Australia
2018 Lithgow Tidy Towns Laneway Project, Lithgow, Australia
2018 Participated in The Sketch Book Project at the Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, New York City
Artist in Residence
2023 Artist in Residency, Spazju Kreattiv and Valletta Design Cluster, Valletta, Malta
2023 Squatters Artist in Residency, The Foundations, Portland, Australia
2019 Artist Residency, Semi Space, Beijing, China
2019 Artist in Residency, Bilpin International Ground for Creative Initiatives (BigCi) Residency, Bilpin, Australia
ART PROJECTS/WORKSHOPS
2023 Directed and facilitated, installation workshop with members of Malta Society of the Blind, Spazju Kreattiv and the Valletta Design Cluster, Valletta, Malta
2022 Directed and facilitated, Concertina Botanical Ink Drawing Workshop, Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra, University of Western Sydney’s Transformation Hub, Lithgow
2022 Directed and facilitated, Botanical Fern Drawing Workshop, The Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens, Mount Tomah, Australia
2022 Project Coordinator, Works in the Window on Govetts, Blackheath, Australia
2022 Designed and created mural for Katoomba High School, Katoomba, Australia
2018 Directed and facilitated the Vanuatu Art Project, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu (supported by the Rotary Club of Blackheath)
ART TEACHING
2000 to 2021 Art teacher at Katoomba North Public School, Katoomba, Australia
2018 Designed and led art work shop, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu (supported by the Rotary Club of Blackheath)
ARTIST TALKS
2019 Presentation, Coexistence, Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens, Mount Tomah, Australia