Poetic and dream-like imagery is the hallmark of Cynthia Breusch’s art.
Her atmospheric paintings convey an other-worldly timelessness and evoke universal themes of meaning and purpose, memory, dreams and the transcendent.
As she puts it, “I want to paint invisible things – the figure might be the motif but my real subject is the human condition and the mystery of existence…what lies beyond ordinary perception.”
Born and raised in Brisbane, Cynthia holds a Diploma of Visual Communication from the Queensland College of Art. She has held over 35 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group and ‘by invitation’ exhibitions around Australia, in Tokyo and California.
Her work was included in an Anthology of Australian Paintings and Poetry for use in schools, published by Hodder Education. Her paintings and drawings have also featured on the book jackets of many of Australia’s most celebrated writers including Kate Grenville, Peter Carey, David Malouf and Olga Masters.
Cynthia has won prizes for both figurative and landscape work. Portraiture is also a significant part of her art practice. Her portraits have been selected in the 2024, 2022 and 2018 Salon des Refusés (the ‘Alternative Archibald’ selection) ; she is an 9-time finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award (Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize for women’s art); and was a finalist in the 2022 Darling Prize (National Portrait Gallery). Cynthia has also been a finalist in other significant award exhibitions including the Paddington Art Prize, Mosman Art Prize, Tattersalls Landscape Prize, and the Redlands Westpac Art Prize.
Her paintings and drawings are represented in the public collections of the Tweed Regional Gallery, Ipswich City Council and the Rockhampton Museum of Art as well as the corporate collections of BHP Billiton, News Corp, the Tattersalls Club Brisbane, the University of Queensland Press, and Catalina Research Corp, Laguna Niguel, California.
Cynthia’s work is held in numerous private collections across Australia and internationally. She lives and works in the World Heritage Area of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Education : Diploma in Visual Communication, Queensland College of Art
Lecturer in Illustration, School of Art, University of Tasmania (1990)
Guest Lecturer, Queensland College of Art (1986)
Full time in art practice since 1991
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Days Like These, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2020 Dreaming in Metaphors – 40th Anniversary Exhibition + Survey
Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2018 In the Dreaming Light, Gallery One , Gold Coast
2016 Personal Universe, Gallery One, Gold Coast
2014 Souvenirs of Time, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2010 Beautiful Cosmos, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney
2006 Lightness + Being, Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast 2004 William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, California ;
Dreams & Journeys, Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast
2002 Valerie Cohen Gallery (at Mary Place), Sydney
2000 The Calling, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
2000/98 Valerie Cohen Gallery, Sydney
1998 Recent Paintings, Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
1996/95/93/92 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1996 Dreams, Waking Thoughts & Incidents, Cintra Galleries, Brisbane 1994 Melbourne Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne
1994/92 Recent Paintings, Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
1991 A Little Life, Love, Luck & Mozart, Despard Gallery, Hobart
1989 The Dream Series, La Trobe Gallery, Brisbane
In the Garden of Many Things, HangUps Gallery, Brisbane
1980 Paddington Gallery, Brisbane
Group Exhibitions
2024 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2024 Vistas & Views, three-person exhibition, Gallery One, Gold Coast
2024/22/18 Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney;
2024 Finalist, Brisbane Portrait Prize
2024 Portraits Exhibition, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre,
Katoomba
2022 Finalist, Darling Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Prize, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney Semi-Finalist, Doug Moran Portrait prize, Sydney
Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2021/17/16/15/14/13/11 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2019 Interplay: Profiling the Four Collection Areas, Tweed Regional Gallery, Downtown
Annex, Murwillumbah, NSW
2018 Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2018/16/15/2013 -2011/2006 -1994 Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize (by invitation), Brisbane
2017 Semi-Finalist, Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Sydney
2014 Gallery Artists, Eva Breuer Gallery, Sydney
2013 Finalist, Paddington Art Prize, Sydney;
2011 The Drawing Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney;
2011 The Landscape Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
2009 Gallery Artists, William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2009/01 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize
2007 Interaction : Contemporary Photography & Painting, Logan Art Gallery, Logan City Council, Qld
2006 Gallery Artists, Laguna Beach, California;
2005 Small Treasures William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2002 4 x 4, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane;
2002 Australian Women Artists 1920 – 2000, (by invitation), Vanessa Wood Fine Art, Sydney
2000 Vast – Contemporary Australian Art – National Art Exhibition
from Near & Far (by invitation) Max Lawson Gallery, Sydney; Contemporary Australian Paintings curated by Nicola Townsend, Tokyo
1998/ 96 Finalist, Redland’s Westpac Art Prize, Sydney
1994 Focus: Women’s Suffrage Centenary Exhibition (by invitation),
Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide
1983 /82 Finalist, L.J. Harvey Memorial Prize for Drawing, Queensland Art Gallery
1979 Collective Visions, two-person exhibition, Paddington, Brisbane
Selected Prizes, Acquisitions & Commissions
2014 Commended, Tattersalls Landscape Prize, Brisbane
2011 ‘Portrait of Christopher McVinish, Artist’ acquired by the Tweed Regional
Gallery, Qld
2006 Winner, Figurative Art prize, Brisbane Rotary Exhibition
2004 Selected for acquisition, Purchase Exhibition (by invitation),
Rockhampton Museum of Art, Qld
1991 Paintings commissioned for interior of catamaran ferry exported
to UK, built by International Catamarans, Hobart.
1998 Winner, Editor’s Prize, Sunday Mail Art Prize, Brisbane
1994 12 commissioned paintings for Shadows of Utopia – A History of
Australia by Manfred Jurgensen, published by University of Central Qld
1987 First Prize, Painting Section, L.J. Hooker Art Awards, Brisbane
1985 Acquisition Prize, Southport School, Qld
1983 Highly Commended, Caltex City of Brisbane Art Awards;
Selected for Acquisition, Ipswich City Council
Select Collections
Tweed Regional Gallery; Ipswich City Council ; Rockhampton Art Gallery ; BHP Billiton ; News Corp ; University of Qld Press; Tattersall’s Club Brisbane ; Tim Fairfax Collection; St Albans Gold Coast ; Suncorp Collection Brisbane; Tamar Collection,Tasmania.
Private Collections: Australia, NZ, Singapore, USA, Germany, UK, France, United Emirates Tim Fairfax Collection
Selected Publications
Alternative Law Journal, Volume 48 No.3, 2023, Monash University, article on cover art
Alternative Law Journal, Volume 46 No.2, 2021, Monash University, article on cover art
- Hare+Klein, Meryl Hare, Thames & Hudson Australia, 2020
- Belle Magazine, Feb/March , 2017
- Under Cover, Craig Munro, Scribe (Memoir), 2015
- Sally Browne, Sunday Mail, August 2012 : When Art Beats As One
- Judy Andersen, Gold Coast Bulletin, June 17-18/ 2006 : A Lightness in the Moment • Coast magazine (painting used as cover art), Issue 12, CA, USA, 2004
- Heidi Meyer, Courier Mail, May 11, 2004: Solitary Figures Convey Sense of Longing
- Sue Smith, Courier Mail, June 4, 1998 : World of Her Own
- Australian Vision, Anthology of Australian Paintings & Poetry, Hodder Education, 1997
- Shadows of Utopia – A History of Australia by Manfred Jurgensen, UCQ Press, 1994
- Focus : 17 Australian Women Focus on the Progress of Women in Society Over the Past 100 Years, published by Adelaide Central Gallery, 1994
- Elwyn Lynn, The Australian, The Weekend Review May 22-23, 1993
- Elwyn Lynn, The Australian, The Weekend Review Jan 18 -19, 1992
- Australian Artist Magazine, feature article, Oct 1992