Kelly Southee
Artist
ARTIST
About
Kelly Southee is a New Zealand–born, Australia–based artist whose work explores the emotional resonance of place through landscapes, architectural subjects, and still life. Deeply connected to both countries, she returns regularly to New Zealand to reconnect with family and re-immerse herself in its distinctive terrain. This lived experience of belonging to two homelands shapes her enduring fascination with how landscapes and built environments hold memory, identity, and feeling.
Originally trained as an interior designer, Kelly designed spaces that shape how people live and experience their surroundings. This foundation gave her a lasting sensitivity to the relationship between environment and emotion — an awareness that now informs her painting practice. With a designer's eye for structure and story, she documents character-filled buildings, evolving streetscapes, and sites on the brink of transformation.
Her paintings often capture homes and industrial spaces just before they are altered, relocated, or demolished, preserving their presence and histories in paint. Through this act of visual preservation, Kelly invites viewers to reflect on change, attachment, and the quiet significance of everyday places.
Alongside these architectural narratives, Kelly occasionally turns inward to still-life compositions, highlighting objects imbued with personal meaning. These quieter works celebrate memory, ownership, and the intimate stories held within everyday items.
Working across acrylic, oil, soft pastel, and permanent ink, Kelly selects her medium according to the demands of each subject — balancing structure, light, atmosphere, and texture.
Kelly accepts commissions for house portraits and landscapes, and offers selected works as high-quality limited-edition reproductions.
Kelly is available for private commissions and offers her most popular work as high quality limited edition reproductions via her Shop linked to Buy Art Now.
Email: kellysouthee@gmail.com
Curriculum Vitae
Exhibitions
2024 'City Aglow' Landscape Exhibition, Plant Empire, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane
2022 'Perfect Imperfection' with Sandra Harrison of Harrison Ceramics, Kepk Space, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane
2019 'The Spring Exhibition' With Alan Morrison, Percolator Gallery, Paddington, Brisbane
2017 ‘Kelly Southee - From New Zealand to Stanthorpe’, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Stanthorpe, The Granite Belt Region, QLD
2016 ‘Home is where the Art is’ - With Renate Martini-Jacobi, The Pool Studio, Annerley, Brisbane
2015 'The Skies that Bind Us' Exhibition with Alan Morrison and Melanie Playle, The Pool Studio, Annerley, Brisbane
2015 ‘Our Places: A Record’ Buildings Exhibition, The Pool Studio, Annerley, Brisbane
2014 Moolooloo Station and Beyond Group Exhibition, Willoughby, Sydney
2014 ‘Poolside’ Landscape & Still Life Exhibition, The Pool Studio, Annerley, Brisbane
2013 ‘Playing with Food’ Still Life Exhibition Sprout French Café, Auchenflower, Brisbane
2013 ‘Absurditrees’ Landscape Exhibition Sprout French Café, Auchenflower, Brisbane
2012 Pop-Up Exhibition St Joseph’s ‘Fashion in the Garden’, Kangaroo Point
2012 ‘A Year After the Brisbane Flood’ Landscape Exhibition, Brisbane City Council Library, Fairfield Gardens, Brisbane
2002 ‘Top of the World & Poles Apart’ Exhibition with photographers Len Phillips and Anne Dowd, Newstead, Brisbane
Art Prize Finalist Exhibitions
2022 Gallery Finalist - Plant Empire Garden Art Exhibition, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane
2021 Gallery Finalist - Plant Empire Garden Art Exhibition, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane
2021 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 20,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2020 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 20,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2019 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 20,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2019 Finalist Exhibition - Aspire Gallery Petite Pieces Art Award, Paddington, Brisbane
2019 'Outside In' Exhibition - St Vincent's Private Hospital, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane
2018 Nundah Village Festival Art Show, Nundah, Brisbane
2018 Finalist Exhibition - Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Southern QLD
2018 Finalist Exhibition - Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane City
2018 Finalist Exhibition - Aspire Gallery Petite Pieces Art Award, Paddington, Brisbane
2017 Finalist Exhibition - Clayton Utz Art Award, Brisbane City
2017 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 10,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2017 Finalist Exhibition – Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane City
2017 'Outside In' Exhibition - St Vincent's Private Hospital, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane
2016 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 10,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2016 Finalist Exhibition – Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane City
2015 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 10,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2015 Finalist Exhibition – Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane City
2014 Nundah Village Festival Art Show, Nundah, Brisbane
2014 Gallery Finalist – Lethbridge Gallery 10,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2013 Nundah Village Festival Art Show, Nundah, Brisbane
2013 Finalist Exhibition – Lethbridge Gallery 10,000 Art Prize, Paddington, Brisbane
2013 Brookfield Show Art Exhibition, Brookfield, Brisbane
2012 St Ita’s Art Show, Dutton Park, Brisbane
2012 Nundah Village Festival Art Show, Brisbane
2011 Nundah Village Festival Art Show, Brisbane
2010 St Elizabeth’s Art Show, Tarragindi, Brisbane
2009 St Elizabeth’s Art Show, Annerley, Brisbane
Awards
2018 Aspire Gallery Petite Pieces Art Award - Runner Up Sponsor Prize 'Winter Morning Light 1, Girraween', Paddington, Brisbane
2015 Nundah Village Festival Art Show – First Place Still Life ‘Nosey Lemons’, Nundah, Queensland
2014 Nundah Village Festival Art Show – Still Life Runner Up Prize ‘Radishes in Yellow’, Nundah, Queensland
2013 Nundah Village Festival Art Prize – Landscape First Prize ‘Holy Bloom’, Nundah, Queensland
Corporate Collections
Private Collections
St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane, Queensland
Miette’s Boulangerie Patisserie, Graceville, Queensland
Bailiwick Financial Planners, Newstead, Brisbane
Canada, USA, Sweden, New Zealand, and within Australia in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland
Education
2012 Brisbane Artist Academe Scholarship
Graduate Diploma in Interior Design, with Distinction, QUT
Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Design), with Distinction, QUT
Professional Development
2013 - 2025 Alan Morrison mentoring, Alan Morrison Artist
2015 Granite Belt Artist Group Retreat, Southern Queensland
2013 Flinders Ranges Moolooloo Artist Group art expedition, Moolooloo Station, South Australia
2011-2012 Maureen Hansen tutor, Brisbane Artist Academe
2011-2012 Alan Morrison mentor, Brisbane Artist Academe
2010 Mia Clarke Pastellist, Brisbane Institute of Art
Employment
2002-present: Self employed artist based in Queensland, Australia
2001-2002 Artist sabbatical in San Francisco Bay Area, USA