STEF RAE

Artist statement

Stef Rae (Australian, b. 1988) is a contemporary painter working primarily in large-scale oil on canvas. Her practice is grounded in process and emotional honesty, unfolding through layered abstraction and automatic gesture.

Emerging from a background in surreal and introspective painting, her recent work marks a shift in palette, form, and psychological presence. She works by leaning into uncertainty and contradiction, allowing the unresolved to remain active within the paintings as a site of transformation.

“The quality of creativity is something I love considering. A link between the subconscious and our perceived reality. A felt connection that can be treated as matter, moulded into tangents and sometimes, revealed. Creativity in all its arrangements is the sensory abstract attempting to be articulated in a form that transcends everyday language. Thoughts can’t be fully realised until we’ve attempted to share them. The imaginative chaos settling into comprehensible parts while remaining strange. A magical realism trying to speak to Subjectivity.”

  • Bachelor of Arts (Humanities), Fine Art

    Curtin University of Technology / 2014

  • “YIELD” PS Art Space, Fremantle, WA / 2026

    “Soft Spot” Nyisztor Studio, Fremantle, WA / 2025

    Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club Art Exhibition, Peppermint Grove, WA / 2025

    Goolugatup Sounds No.23, Goolugatup Heathcote Gallery, Applecross, WA / 2025

    “Feminine Rage - All the Rage” Naval Store, Fremantle, WA / 2024

    “Subconscious Landing” Assembly Department, Mt Lawley, WA / 2023

    Claremont Art Awards, Claremont, WA / 2023

    Cossack Art Awards, Cossack, Karratha, WA / 2023

    Collie Art Prize, Collie Art Gallery, Collie, WA / 2023

    Cossack Art Awards, Cossack, Karratha, WA / 2022

    “Holding Self” Percy Flint, South Fremantle, WA / 2022

    Claremont Art Framers Gallery, Claremont, WA / 2021

    Curtin University Degree Exhibit, Bentley, WA / 2014

  • ART COLLECTOR Magazine, Issue #116, April—June, 2026.

    FLOURISH Magazine, Issue #16, pg. 4, “Rae of Light and Colour.” September 8, 2023.

    “Art Awards Bring Out the Best.” Post Newspaper, August 19, 2023.

    ART EDIT Magazine, Issue #36, pg. 143, “Gallery Panel.” May 30, 2023.

    “Collie Art Gallery hosts Collie Art Prize 2023.” The West Australian, March 4, 2023.

    “Scary Selfie.” Fremantle Herald, July 1, 2022.

  • First Prize Winner at Claremont Art Awards / 2023

    Highly Commended at Cossack Art Awards / 2023

    Best Artwork by a West Australian Artist at Collie Art Prize / 2023

    Highly Commended at Cossack Art Awards / 2022

  • PS

    22-26 Pakenham Street, Fremantle, WA 6160 / 2026

    Claremont Art Framers and Gallery

    5/1 Leura Avenue, Claremont, WA 6010 / 2021 – 2023

  • Goolugatup Sounds No.23 - RTRfm Art Exhibition Fundraiser

    Organisation and collection of artwork / 2024 – 2025

    Claremont Art Framers and Gallery

    Installation and sale of artwork / 2019 – 2023