Biography
Kate Ballis (b. 1985) is an Australian-based interdisciplinary artist whose practice blends photography, painting, and technological experimentation to transform familiar landscapes into otherworldly visions.
Her colour-drenched artworks use various techniques to expose unseen frequencies, be it light or spirit. Referencing ancient mythology, surrealism, and the natural world, her work explores plant life, spirits, and epic landscapes, making them seem more foreign than the places we know.
Her book, Infra Realism, was published in 2017 by Manuscript Publishing. Ballis’ work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Miami, curated art and photo festivals worldwide, and at art fairs across Europe. She has been featured in Aesthetica, AnOther, Wallpaper, Vogue Living, VICE, and Forbes, among others. Her work is held in the Parliament House Collection in Canberra, Artbank, and significant private collections internationally.
Download CV
Curriculum Vitae
Solo Exhibitions
2026 Forthcoming - Infrabotanica, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2025 Beyond Time, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2024 Liminality Antipodes, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2023 Influorescence with Tom Blachford, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2023 Portals to Atlantis, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, VIC
2023 Before Time, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2022 Atlantis, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2022 Wonderworld, David Jones Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2021 Infra Realism: Lilac Lux, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2020 Liminality, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2020 Hyperphantasia, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2019 Palm Springs Art Fair, Palm Springs, USA
2019 Spectrums of the Galapagos, Jardan, VIC
2019 Affordable Art Fair, ARTITLED Contemporary, London, UK
2018 Hypercolour Fantasy: Infra Realism, Garis and Hahn, Los Angeles, USA
2018 Pulse Miami Art Fair, Garis and Hahn, Miami, USA
2017 Glace Noir, Black Eye Gallery, NSW
2017 Infra Realism, Jardan, VIC
Group Exhibitions and Fairs
2025 Apposite Ground with Janet Laurence and Catherine Nelson - RACV Club Gallery, VIC
2025 Lost in Palm Springs, Ipswich Art Gallery, QLD.
2025 Lost in Palm Springs, Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD.
2025 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW.
2025 Lost in Palm Springs, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW.
2025 Lost in Palm Springs, Devonport Regional Gallery, TAS.
2025 Seeing the Light, Gallerysmith, VIC.
2024 Lost in Palm Springs, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, VIC.
2024 Lost in Palm Springs, Griffith Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
2024 Lost in Palm Springs, Signal Point Gallery, SA.
2024 30 Years of Arthouse Exhibition, Arthouse Gallery, NSW.
2023 Lost in Palm Springs, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, NSW.
2023 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW.
2023 Environmental Art and Design Prize Exhibition, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, NSW
2023 Lost in Palm Springs, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, QLD
2023 Lost in Palm Springs, HOTA Museum, Gold Coast, QLD
2023 XV: Past, Present and Future, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC
2022 Summer Salon, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2022 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
2022 Out of the Blue, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2022 Kings School Art Prize, Finalist, The King’s School, Parramatta, NSW
2021 Hundreds and Thousands, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2021 Going Home, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2021 Coming Home, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2021 Fresh eyes: reimagining Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street’, Melbourne Design Week
2021 PAN Amsterdam, RAI Amsterdam exhibition centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021 Bowness Photography Award, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
2021 Not Fair, Melbourne, curated by Ashley Crawford and Sam Leach
2021 Summer Salon, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2020 Sydney Contemporary presents 2020 (virtual art fair)
2020 Head on at 107, Head On photo Festival, curated by Sandy Edwards, Redfern, NSW
2020 RE(NEW)AL, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2020 Summer Show, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2019 Illusions, Backwoods Gallery, VIC
2019 London Art Fair, London, UK
2019 Art Karlsruhe, Germany
2019 KunstRAI, The Netherlands
2019 CCP Photo Fair, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, VIC
2018 London Art Fair, London, UK
2018 AAF Brussels, Belgium
2018 AAF Hampstead, London, UK
2018 Affordable Art Fair, ARTITLED Contemporary, London, UK
2018 KunstRAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 Art The Hague, The Netherlands
2018 AAF Battersea, London, UK Art House Collective, Jardan, VIC
2017 Straight Lines, Black Eye Gallery, NSW
2017 Art The Hague, The Netherlands
2017 AAF Battersea, London, UK
Awards
2024 Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize, NSW, Finalist
2024 Omnia Art Prize, VIC, Finalist
2024 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, NSW, Finalist
2024 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, NSW, Finalist
2023 Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize, NSW, Finalist
2023 Omnia Art Prize, VIC, Finalist
2022 Kings Art School Prize, NSW, Finalist
2022 Omnia Art Prize, VIC, Finalist
2021 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, VIC, Finalist
Commissions
2024 Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne
2023 Portals to Atlantis, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, VIC
2023 Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre, Sunshine, VIC
2020 Shot and Edited on iPhone, Torres del Paine National Park, Apple USA
2018 Nicholas Building Tenants, City Square Metro Tunnel, Melbourne, VIC
2017 Woolmark, Australia-wide.
Collections
Prominent private collections
Parliament House Art Collection
Artbank
Royal Melbourne Hospital
Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre
St John of God Hospital WA
Prince of Wales Hotel
QT Hotel Gold Coast
Book
Infra Realism by Kate Ballis published by Manuscript Publishing, 2018.
Lost in Palm Springs by Greer Honeywill published by Melbourne Books, 2023.
Bibliography
2022 Karras, Christina, ‘Take A Trip Around The World At David Jones' New Wonderworld Gallery’, The Designfiles, March 4.
2022 Bea Taylor, ‘A Magical, Layered Melbourne Garden - With Giant Metallic Mushrooms!’, The Designfiles, December 12.
2022 Harriet Thorpe, ‘Palm Springs Modernism Week according to Photographers Tom Blachford and Kate Ballis’, Wallpaper, July 25.
2020 ‘Hyperphantasia: a trip through the California desert – in pictures’, The Guardian, 15 February
2019 ‘Tired of Intellectualising Everything? This Photographer Is’, The Design Files, 26 March
2019 ‘Spectrums of the Galapagos’ Photography Exhibition by Kate Ballis’, Yellowtrace, 8 April
2018 Infra Realism, Manuscript Publishing in Art Almanac
2018 Pitcher, Laura, ‘Photographer Kate Ballis Makes your Palm Springs Vacation Photos look Basic’, iD/ Vice Magazine, 20 June
2018 Klingelfuss, Jessica, ‘Kate Ballis’ candy-coloured dreamscapes hit the sweet spot in Los Angeles’, Wallpaper, 28 July
2018 Carter, Felicity, ‘Kate Ballis Showcases a Hypercolor Fantasy in her Latest Exhibition, Infra Realism’, Forbes, 4 August
2018 Sara Tardiff, ‘You’ll Never Look at Iconic Palm Springs Architecture the Same Way’, Architectural Digest Magazine, 21 August
2018 Carolan, Nicholas, ‘The Pink Print’, Grazia
2018 Fitzpatrick, Kyle Raymond, “Photographer Kate Ballis’ “Hypercolour Fantasy: Infra Realism” at Garis & Hahn, 24 July.
2018 ‘Infra Realism: deserts saturated with colour in pictures’, The Guardian, 16 October
2017 ‘First look: This Melbourne-based photographer has captured one of the world’s most beautiful natural attractions’, Vogue Australia, 27 June
2017 Murrell, Elle, ‘Kate Ballis’, The Design Files, 19 June
2017 Lawson, Kate, ‘In her Candy Colored Dreams’, The September Issues in print.
2017 Black, Holly, ‘Reimagining Californian Landscapes through Infrared’, Another Magazine, 26 July
2017 ‘Hyper-real Perspectives’, Aesthetica Magazine, 30 July