About the artist

Jennifer Bell is an Australian contemporary artist based in Brisbane, working across painting, woven paper, textiles and mixed media. Inspired by nature's hidden patterns, her work explores movement, rhythm, repetition, colour and shifting light through richly layered abstract compositions.

Rather than illustrating nature, Jennifer's work explores what it feels like to be immersed in it - to experience its layers, movement, rhythms, patterns and changing light. While pattern is central to her practice, she is often less interested in depicting an object than in capturing the sensation of being surrounded by the natural world.

Jennifer also lives with Visual Snow Syndrome, a neurological condition that creates a constant field of visual static, flashes of light and other visual phenomena. This heightened experience of pattern and visual activity has become another influence within her work, particularly in her exploration of repetition, optical movement and densely layered surfaces.

With 30 years of professional studio practice, Jennifer brings a broad creative background to her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from and has worked across art direction, illustration, surface pattern design and print production. Earlier in her career, she also ran a gallery in Wellington, New Zealand.

These different experiences have shaped the way she thinks about colour, composition, materials and how artwork lives within a space. Her practice moves between painting, paper, thread and weaving, combining traditional making with contemporary approaches to pattern and abstraction.

Jennifer's work has been collected in more than 70 countries, with original artworks held in private and corporate collections internationally.

Working from her Brisbane studio, Jennifer continues to explore the hidden structures and rhythms of the natural world through contemporary abstract art, textile and woven works.

View Original Art

Artists CV

  • EDUCATION

    Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from the University of Newcastle. She later attended the University of Technology in Sydney to study Visual Communication, London's Putney School of Art and Design and Waverley Woollahra Art School in Sydney.

    AWARDS / RECOGNITION

    2026 Finalist Independent Visions Art Prize, Studio on Brunswick
    2023 Finalist SINGULART Awards Painter of the Year
    2020 Finalist Art Lovers Prize Australia​
    2019 Finalist Global Etsy Design Awards
    2019 Finalist Milburn Art Prize
    2019 Finalist Rotary Art Spectacular
    2019 Finalist Art Lovers Prize Australia
    2018 Finalist Moreton Bay Art Awards
    2018 Finalist Milburn Art Prize
    2018 Finalist Art Lovers Prize Australia
    2017 Finalist Lethbridge 10 000 Art Awards
    2017 Highly Commended ArtWorld Studio Portrait Prize
    2017 Local Business Prize Foot Square, Aspire Gallery
    2016 Voters’ Choice Winner Foot Square, Aspire Gallery

    PRESS, PUBLICATIONS and EVENT

    2024 Brisbane Affordable Art Fair
    2024 Grand Designs Australia Magazine Issue 12.5
    2023 Kinetic Pointillism An Emerging Art Movement​ by Ganesh K Shenoy
    2022 Visual Snow Art Exhibit YouTube by Bad Reception
    2021 Renewal Art Book by Art Lovers Australia
    2020 10 Australian Artists Making a Splash, Artzine by The Artling
    2019 Saatchi Art Catalog Spring 2019
    2019 Qld Photographic Society talk 'Art & Photography'
    2019 Brush Magazine Issue 10
    2019 Paper Bou BlogMarch 2019
    2019 Smarter Communities Magazine Summer Edition
    2018 Artists Talk Magazine Issue 5 July 2018
    2018 'Bringing the beach to you' crowdink.com Mar
    2018 'More than just flowers' crowdink.com Feb
    2018 The Evening Standard Online Lifestyle section Jan
    2017 Down Under Textiles Magazine Issue 29
    2017 Grand Designs Australia Magazine Issue 6.4
    2017 Down Under Textiles Magazine Issue 28
    2013 The Loop Blog, August
    2012 Etsy artists chat, Vivid Festival, Sydney Apple Store
    2008 Digital Camera Magazine, Autumn Issue
    1998 Liminal Graduate Show exhibition catalogue

  • SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

    2026 TEMPEST, The Brisbane Gallery, Brisbane
    2026 Small Favours, Kaye West Studios, Brisbane
    2026 How Long is a Piece of String? The Churn Room, Dayboro
    2026 Escape, The Brisbane Gallery, Brisbane
    2026 Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
    2025 TENFOLD, Side Gallery, Brisbane
    2025 Matthew Flinders Art Prize, Bribie Island Arts Centre
    2024 Affordable Art Fair, Brisbane
    2022 The Pattern Pilgrim, Empire Revival, Paddington
    ​2021 Garden Art Exhibition, Plant Empire, Yerongpilly
    2021 Making Do, Redcliffe Museum
    2021 Landing (Brisbane Art Design Festival) Side Gallery
    2020 Loom, Side Gallery, Brisbane
    2019 Play with Paper, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, Strathpine
    2019 Milburn Art Prize, Metcalfe Gallery, Brisbane
    2019 Women's Work, Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane
    2018 The Weaving Room, Pine Rivers Gallery, Strathpine
    2018 Variegated, Artworld Studio, Brisbane
    2018 Regeneration, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2018 Natural Selection, The Mezzanine, Dayboro
    2018 Moreton Bay Art Awards, Strathpine
    2018 Milburn Art Prize, Metcalfe Gallery, Brisbane
    2018 Art Lovers Australia Finals, Left Bank Gallery, Gold Coast
    2018 Snap18, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2018 Petite Pieces, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2017 Lethbridge 10000, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
    2017 Weaving Illusions, Left Bank Gallery, Gold Coast
    2017 Landscape, Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane
    2017 SNAP17, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2017 All Creatures, Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane
    2017 Ipswich Art Awards, Ipswich
    2017 Petite Pieces, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2016 Elemental Brisbane, Reverse Emporium, Brisbane
    2016 Babies, books and rhymes, Ashgrove Library, Brisbane
    2016 Delicate Emotive, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2016 Comforts of Home, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2016 Foot Sqaure, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2016 Snap, Aspire Gallery, Brisbane
    2013 Once Upon a Time, The Art & Design Precinct, Brisbane
    2004 Art Space Island Bay, Wellington
    2003 Art Space Island Bay, Wellington
    2002 Art Space Island Bay, Wellington
    2001 Art Space Island Bay, Wellington
    2001 Art Within, Wamberal
    2000 Femme Fatale, Green Frog, Newtown
    2000 Art Within, Wamberal
    1999 Latest work, Candy's, Manly
    1998 Liminal, Ourimbah
    1997 Central Coast Arts Fringe Festival