Terri Brooks
“When you do something you love, you forget about reality for a while, which is healthy. I’m simply happier when I’m painting, even if it’s just for an hour a day. Looking at works in progress makes me think about what to do next. It makes everything in life feel a little better.”
Contemporary Australian abstract artist Terri Brooks is renowned for her richly complex works built on a foundation of simplicity. Using a restrained palette and a focus on horizontal and vertical brushstrokes, her paintings explore the tensions and harmonies of duality, drawing deep connections with the landscape and the structures that shape our world. From an early age, Brooks was drawn to visual experiences.
Brooks began exhibiting professionally while still an undergraduate and soon gained representation at Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery. Her academic journey continued with postgraduate studies, eventually culminating in a PhD. While she taught extensively at TAFE, her own art practice never waned. Living near nature and the river, she draws inspiration from the natural world and its many mysteries. She describes abstraction as a “pooling of ideas” and finds beauty in the essential laws of nature, metaphysics, and the unseen energy of the universe. Her minimalist approach is informed by architecture and the human form—both grounded in the vertical and horizontal. The grid forms the structural base of her paintings, echoing the built environment and the organic order of the landscape. These movements are fundamental, and she deliberately avoids diagonal strokes, as they risk becoming representational rather than purely abstract.
Urbane Gazette, Volume 7, Issue 1, part 22. Perth, Australia, May, 2025
Image: Opening of 'Line and Weight', 2019 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
About the Artist
-
Born 1958 in Melbourne, VIC, where she lives and works
Education
2010 Doctor of Philosophy by research, University of Ballarat, 'Makeshift, Abstraction and the Australian Patina'
2005 Master of Arts by research, University of Ballarat accepted in full without change
1988 Graduate Diploma (Fine Art) with distinction, RMIT University
1987 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with distinction, RMIT University
-
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023:
Natural World / Abstracted, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, WA2022:
Chromatic Layers, Perth, WA2021:
Resonance, Broome, WA2019:
Following a Path 2014-9, Tacit Art Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
Line and Weight, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2018:
Further Afield, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2016:
Principia, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2015:
Off The Grid, Piscinacomunale, Milan, Italy (in collaboration with Fabrizio Fortini)
It’s The Thought That Counts, Kunsthuis LOOF, Netherlands
Terri Brooks, Bird in Hand Winery, Adelaide Hills, SA2014:
Brown and Bone, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Over the Edges, Orexart, Auckland, NZ2012:
Echoes of the Land, Aptos Cruz Galleries, Stirling, SA
Over the Edge, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2011:
Beyond the Surface, Aptos Cruz Galleries, Adelaide, SA
White Open, University of Ballarat Post Office Gallery, Ballarat, VIC
New Works, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2007:
Found Marks, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2006:
Painting forever and ever—part two, Harris Courtin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Painting forever and ever, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2004:
Harris Courtin Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2003:
Marked by Time, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC2001:
Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1999:
Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1997:
Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1994:
The Tapping of the Tin, Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1992:
Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1990:
Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC1989:
A Portrait of Space, Friends of the Earth Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Two and Three Person Exhibitions
2018:
Terri Brooks and Harmen Van Der Tuin, Galerie LOOF, Netherlands
Brooks, Cusack, Schiemann, Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD
Relic and other stories, Byron School of Art Project Space, Byron Bay, NSW (with Michael Cusack)2017:
Kosmos, Stan Van Steendam, Drawing Series, Terri Brooks, Kunsthuis LOOF, Netherlands2016:
Rock Paper Scissors, Ruth Levine and Terri Brooks, Fanuli Event, Melbourne, VIC2011:
Distil, Katherine Boland and Terri Brooks, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA2010:
Forgotten Spaces, Alan Bates & Terri Brooks, Salt Contemporary Art, Queenscliff, VIC
Pilven, Pilven and Brooks, Stefano’s Gallery 25, Mildura, VIC (with Neville Pilven and Peter Pilven)2009:
Zerbrechliche Weite : Fragile Vastness, Kunstsammlung Brandenburg, Brandenburg, Germany (with Bernd Kerkin)
Antipoden II, University of Ballarat Post Office Gallery, Ballarat, VIC (with Rob Whitton and Bernd Kerkin)1994:
Andrew Trahair & Terri Brooks, Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019:
Third Birthday Exhibition, Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD
Breathe, Museum St Wendel, Germany (curated by Avid Boecker)
New Modern, Five Walls, Footscray, VIC (curated by Billy Gruner)
Colour/Field 2, Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD
Colour/Field, Gatakers Art Space, Maryborough, QLD (curated by Clinton Cross)2018:
Earth / Bound: A Cross Gallery Presentation, Photopia Studios, Gladstone, QLD
Of Colour and Light, WestEnd Art Space, Melbourne, VIC (curated by Anna Prifti)
The History Files, PiscinaComunale, Milan, Italy
Mary Poppins Festival, Gatakers ArtSpace, Maryborough, QLD (curated by Clinton Cross)
ON OFF exhibition space launch, Milan, Italy
The Exquisite Palette, Tacit Galleries, Collingwood, VIC
Small Works – A Survey, RRRGAT, Cororooke, VIC (curated by Julie Keating and Debbie Hill)
After London, Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD (curated by Clinton Cross)2017:
A Secret Place, Gatakers Art Space, Maryborough, QLD (curated by Clinton Cross)
Land / Line / Sea, Artlacuna, London, UK (curated by Clinton Cross)
Dirty Filthy Painting, BSA Project Space, NSW
Doofword, Cross Gallery, Cooroy, QLD
Shades of Grey, Tacit Art Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
This Matters, Galerie LOOF, Jubegga, Netherlands
Denfair, Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne, VIC
Cross Gallery @ Relish Festival, Gatakers Art Space, Maryborough, QLD
Timelines, Boekercontemporary, Heidelberg, Germany
Rotterdam Contemporary, Kunsthuis LOOF, World Trade Centre, Rotterdam2016:
ArtTheHague, Kunsthuis LOOF, The Hague, Netherlands
Paper 5, Creative Regions Ltd, Bundaberg, QLD (curated by Clinton Cross)
Of light and colour, Yarra Sculpture Space, Melbourne, VIC
KunstRAI Amsterdam, Kunsthuis LOOF, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Shades of Grey, Tacit Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne, VIC
Mail Art, PiscinaComunale, Milan, Italy
Purpuri, Space22, Milan, Italy
35 x 35cm Art Project, The Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece2015:
Direction Now, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Direction Now, Lismore Regional Art Gallery, NSW2014:
Nero su bianco, Piscina Comunale, Milan, Italy
Direction Now, Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn, VIC
Place, Aptos Cruz Galleries, Stirling, SA
25th Anniversary Exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, VIC
Sedimentation, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA2013:
Summer Show, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Five, Form Studio and Gallery, Queanbeyan, NSW
Gaffer Showcase, 236 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong
Spring Decorative Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, UK (Wilson Stephens Fine Art)
Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair, Gaffer Ltd., Hong Kong
London Art Fair, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London, UK
Wilson Stephens & Jones, London2012:
Triple Happiness, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
The Artist Relief Project, Online Exhibition, curated by Arielle Sandler
Art for a Cause, Form Studio and Gallery, Queanbeyan, NSW
Five Miles from the Sea, Locale, Richmond Town Hall, VIC
Summer Exhibition, Gaffer Ltd., Hong Kong
Space, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
ClimARTe Change, Form Studio and Gallery, Queanbeyan, NSW
Der glückliche Griff The Lucky Handle, Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg, Germany
Covering Ground, Dark Horse Experiment, Melbourne, VIC
Six Melbourne Artists, Gaffer Ltd., Hong Kong
-
Collections
Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg, Germany
The Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens
Macquarie Group Collection
Westpac Bank
Dr Joseph Brown
BHP Ltd
BHP Petroleum
Albert Tucker Collection
BP Australia, 101 Collins Street
The Melbourne House, Greg Natale
RLD Kent Street Project
Cliff Top House — Shortlisted 2015 Australian Interior Design Awards, Hare + Klein
The Melbourne House
Kirribilli Apartment — Shortlisted 2015 Australian Interior Design Awards, Hare + Klein
Queens Riverside, Frasers Property Australia
Henley Properties Group
Westin Perth
Sheraton Melbourne
Four Points Sheraton, Central Park, Sydney
Audit Victoria
Nauru House
Grand Chancellor Hotel
Buxton’s at Southbank
kunstGUT Schmiedenfelde, Germany
Private Collections in Australia, Germany, America, England, The Netherlands, Italy, Hong Kong CN, Singapore, and Dubai UAE
Awards
2020
Winner, The Paper Bag Award Show — Cross Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD2008
University of Ballarat, Research Travel Grant2007–2009
University of Ballarat Research Scholarship2006
Ministry of Culture, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany — Artist Workshop1992
BP Australia Acquisitive Award1991
Australia Council — Project Grant1988
Pura Prize for Work on Paper — RMIT University1987
Runner-Up, John Abdullah and William J. Conn Travelling Scholarship — RMIT University
Selected Finalist Art Prizes
2019
The Bundaberg Art Prize — Bundaberg, QLD2016
41st Rio Tinto Martin Hanson Memorial Award (Paper Section) — Gladstone Regional Art Gallery2015
Wyndham Art Prize2013
Fleurieu Art Prize2010
Tattersall’s Club Invitation Landscape Art Prize — Art Promotions Queensland
Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize — Curator Julie Collins, The Substation, Newport2007
Kedumba Invitation Drawing Award — Wentworth Falls, NSW2006
Hatched 06 — National Graduate Show, PICA2005
Tattersall’s Landscape Art Prize — Art Promotions Queensland2002
Fleurieu Art Prize & Touring Exhibition — Fleurieu Peninsula, SA1999
The Alice Prize — Alice Springs, NT1998
Fleurieu Art Prize — Fleurieu Peninsula, SA1997
Outback Art Prize — Broken Hill City Gallery, NSW1994
R. M. Ansett Art Award — City of Hamilton Art Gallery1993
Diamond Valley Acquisitive Awards1992
Diamond Valley Acquisitive Awards
Artworkz Four — BP Acquisitive Art Awards, 101 Collins Street1990
Diamond Valley Acquisitive Art Awards
Artworkz Two — BP Acquisitive Awards1989
Artworkz One — BP Acquisitive Awards1988
John Abdullah and William J. Conn Traveling Scholarship — RMIT Gallery, Storey Hall, RMIT University1987
Mitchell College Union — National Student Art Prize, Bathurst
John Abdullah and William J. Conn Traveling Scholarship — Faculty Gallery, RMIT University
91 x 71 cm