STEF RAE

Artist statement

Stef Rae (Australian, b. 1988) is an expressionist artist whose work navigates the emotional and textural terrain between presence and disconnection, reality and imagination. Working primarily in textural contrast, she explores the felt but often unspoken dimensions of embodiment, inner dualism, and identity.

Beginning her paintings in abstraction, Rae allows the work to emerge intuitively, bringing together subconscious and conscious elements into layered compositions that hold ambiguity, silence, and emotional resonance. Her process is rooted in a desire not to define, but to open—offering viewers a contemplative space to feel what needs feeling.

Through a practice that pushes the boundaries of paint and surface, Sally creates dream-like yet grounded works that speak to both personal experience and shared emotional truths. Each piece becomes a visual narrative, where strength and vulnerability meet in quiet tension.

“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

  • “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

  • 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

  • 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