Melbourne-born artist Lottie Consalvo’s practice is rooted in the exploration of the invisible world—thought, imagination, dreams, and the possibilities beyond the real. Working across painting, performance, video, and sculpture, she continually probes the limits of the known and pushes beyond its veil.
Consalvo channels the creative forces of the mind, delving into primal states of memory and imagination through tangible expressions of the psychological and emotional. Her gestural, indeterminate paintings explore tensions between body and mind, lived and processed experience. She draws parallels between the unknown in human existence and mystical natural phenomena—the ocean, the horizon, the bush, other species. These become metaphors for inner worlds, exploring longing, desire, and loss. Using a restricted palette, monumental forms, and stark contrasts, she materialises the intangible—where imagination and memory transition into physical form.
Beyond representation, her work honours the mind’s capacity to regenerate. Through video and live performance, she creates presence even in absence, engaging imagination and affirming our ability to endure grief and trauma while opening portals to what feels ungraspable.
Consalvo’s career highlights include a 2015 residency with Marina Abramović through Kaldor Public Art Projects, her first solo museum exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art in 2018, and major exhibitions at Casula Powerhouse and Maitland Regional Art Gallery. In 2025, she was named winner of the acquisitive Muswellbrook Art Prize. She is a Sulman Prize (2026) finalist, and was a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize (2025) and MAC Yapang (2025). She has also been a finalist in the Calleen Art Prize (2017) and Fisher’s Ghost Award Photography and Open Prize (2014). She has exhibited internationally and her works are held in collections including Artbank, Newcastle Art Gallery, and Macquarie University.
Words courtesy of Nanda\Hobbs.