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Visual Artist, Illustrator & Ceramicist
based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia -
Based in Naarm (Melbourne), Nani Puspasari is a multidisciplinary artist working across ceramics, painting, illustration, sculpture, and installation. Her work explores cultural identity, migration, and memories, blending her Eastern heritage with contemporary art. Through playful, bold, and surreal forms, she captures nostalgia, longing, and transformation with symbolism, humour, and storytelling. Her work expresses emotion through subtle, abstract, and poetic sensibility, infused with a naïve charm.
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Art CV + Portfolio
Illustration Portfolio -
My Journal
Art Diary -
hello(at)designani.com
or contact form here
PO BOX 1109
Ashwood 3147
VIC, Australia
Nani Puspasari
Photo by Dotti Li
Education
2010 Master of Fine Art, RMIT, Melbourne
2008 Master of Design (Communication), Swinburne, Melbourne
2003 Bachelor of Visual Communication Design, UKPetra, ID
Selected Awards
2025 Finalist, Muswellbrook Art Prize (Ceramic)
2025 Finalist, Feel Good Art Prize
2024 Finalist, (11th) The Korea-Australia Arts Foundation Prize
2024 Finalist, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize
2024 Finalist, North Queensland Ceramic Awards
2024 Finalist, Emerging Artist Award 2024 by Fortyfivedownstairs
2023 Sculpture Highly Commended, Hornsby Art Prize
2023 Finalist, Muswellbrook Art Prize (Ceramic)
2023 Finalist, Little Things Art Prize (Ceramic)
2023 Finalist, TRAILS Sculpture Prize
2021 Finalist, (8th) The Korea-Australia Arts Foundation Prize
2019 Merit, 3x3 International Illustration Award No.16
2018 Fine Art Prize, Japan Illustration Award
2017 Best of Best, Hiii Illustration Award (Commercial)
2016 Runners up, Creative Quarterly 46 (Illustration)
2015 Shortlisted, Premio Combat Prize (Graphic Arts)
2011 Silver, Illustrator Australia Award
2011 Shortlisted, Create Design Award (Illustration)
2011 Finalist, Lethbridge Art Award (Painting)
2008 Winner, Bank of Queensland Encouragement Award (Painting)
Selected Residencies + Grants
2025 Residency, Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan
2025 Residency, Haengchon Cultural Foundation, South Korea
2024 Residency, Raku - Symposium BIODIVERSITY, Mils, Tyrol, Austria
2024 Residency, RMUTT University, Thanyaburi, Thailand
2023 Residency, Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale, South Korea
2023 Residency, SoYun Art Space, Haenam, South Korea
2021 Grant, Sustaining Creative Workers initiative, RAV
2021 Grant, Small Project Grants, City of Yarra
2020 Grant, National Assistance Program for the Arts, Sidney Myer Fund
2020 Residency, 15th Arts Festival, Poh Chang Academy of Arts, Bangkok
2019 Residency, Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale, South Korea
2019 Residency, RMUTI International Art Workshop 2019, Korat, Thailand
2015 Residency, Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Bali, Indonesia
Selected Solo Exhibition
2024 Childhood Cheeks, Grown-Up Madness, Manningham Art Gallery
2024 Invisible Playground, Vitrine Gallery, CRAFT VIC
2023 More Birthday Cake, SOL Gallery, Melbourne
2022 Adulthood, Alternative Current Space, Melbourne
2021 Macan, Black Cat Gallery, Melbourne
2019 Between Somewhere, Black Cat Gallery, Melbourne
2017 Garden Soul, Off The Kerb Gallery, Melbourne
2011 Girl & Animal, First Site Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibition
2025
Locals, Outre Gallery, Melbourne
2024
The New Generation: Asian Heritage in Ceramics, Bunjil Place Gallery
Small Pleasures, Gallery Lowe and Lee, Sydney
Biodiversity, Galerie Im Schalterhaus, Mils, Austria
Divergence, Sol Gallery, Melbourne
Dragon Dream, Haengchon Art Museum, Haenam, South Korea
2023
Hornsby Art Prize, the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby, NSW
The Taste of Haenam, Daeheungsa, Haenam, South Korea
Immersed Mountains and Serene Waters, Mokpo Culture and Art Centre, South Korea
Muswellbrook Art Prize Exhibition, NSW
Gather|Together, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania
Welcome Home, Honey Bones Gallery
TRAILS Sculpture Prize, Portland CBD, South West Coast, VIC
Gems: So Far, Divisions Gallery at Pentridge, Melbourne
Senhwa (Black Rabbit), Haengchon Art Museum, South Korea
2022 Deckade, Backwoods Gallery, Melbourne
2022 Local, Outre Gallery, Melbourne
2021 Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale, South Korea
2021 KAAF Art Prize Award Exhibition, Sydney
2020 Time Change, RMUTT, Thanyaburi, Thailand
2019 Gong-jae & The Artists’ Self Portrait, Haengchon Art Museum, Korea
2019 Femina Extravaganza, Black Cat Gallery, Melbourne
2018 Illustrating Life III, Beijing, China
2015 Premio Combat, Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori ex Granai di Villa Mimbelli, Liverno, Italy
2013 4th Annual Belle Arti Prize, Chapman & Bailey Gallery, Melbourne
2012 Dino Wars, Jurassic Lounge, Australia Museum, Sydney
2011 Nursery Rhymes, Urban Cow Studio Gallery, Adelaide
2010 The Space that Measures Distance, Chinese Museum, Melbourne
2010 Drawgasmic, The Mad Art Gallery, Saint Louis, USA
2008 A Walk of Art, The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, Melbourne
2008 Fifth Annual SNAP TO GRID, APWArts Gallery, Los Angeles
2008 BRAngerous Women Art Exhibition, CCCL, Sby, ID
2007 Fine Art East Java 2007, Taman Budaya, Sby, ID
2007 07 Joint, Busan, South Korea
2007 Fine Art: Wanita (h), Gallery Surabaya, Sby, ID
2007 Graphic Art Modern, Taman Budaya, Sby, ID
Collections
Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection, Australia
Haengchon Cultural Art Foundation(ACAF), South Korea
Haenam Culture & Arts Centre, South Korea
Poh Chang Academy of Art, Bangkok, Thailand
Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Thailand
Private Collections: USA, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia
Public Art Works
2023 Coles South Melbourne, Melbourne - mural
2022 Lunar Banner (Tiger), Sydney Lunar Festival, City of Sydney
2021 Me and UooUoo: The RCH150 Anniversary Art Trail by The Royal Children's Foundation Hospital
2010-now Mural, private/ commercial commissions
Selected Press
2023 ABC Art-Works season.03 ep.12
2018 The artist creates fantasies that challenge women’s reality, Vice ID
2018 Melbourne Art, Uppercase 36, magazine
2017 Home Living, featured on The Herald Sun p.24-25, 30
2016 An Obsession to Create, Tempo, March page 14-20
2015 An Artist Called Nani, interview by Helen Brown
2012 Book: Arbeitende Orte (German Edition)
201 Culture, Nylon Mag Ed.Dec p.64
more press
