MY STORY
Helen Otway is a full-time Australian artist based in the Northern Rivers, dividing her time between the coast and the hinterland. Her work explores themes of nature, memory, and emotional resonance, with a focus on the subtle interplay between landscape and personal experience. Through a layered, intuitive painting practice, she captures quiet moments of stillness and contemplation, drawing viewers into an intimate engagement with the natural world.
Helen’s work is increasingly shaped by ideas of impermanence, belonging, and transition. She is interested in how environments—both lived and remembered—inform the way we see ourselves, and how place can carry emotional and psychological weight. Her practice often navigates the space between the seen and the felt, the familiar and the ambiguous, inviting a slower way of looking.
Beginning her career as an art teacher, Helen enriched children’s education through creativity while fostering a vibrant, art-filled home for her two daughters. She remains a strong advocate for arts education and the importance of creative practice within communities.
Helen majored in art during her studies at Victoria College, completing a Diploma of Teaching (Art) and a Bachelor of Education (Art, Film, and Video). She is currently undertaking a three-year Visual Arts course at the Byron School of Art (2024–2026), where she continues to refine her material language, compositional sensibilities, and conceptual depth.
Since establishing her studio at the M-Arts Precinct in 2020 and opening her gallery in Cabarita the same year, Helen has exhibited widely across Australia. She has held multiple solo exhibitions, including at Mist Gallery (Cabarita Beach), Art Post Uki, and Marios Café (Fitzroy, VIC). Her work has also appeared in numerous group shows, particularly throughout the Tweed region, where she has built a strong presence within the local arts community.
Helen’s achievements include being a finalist in the 2025 Swell Art Prize and the 2023 Lethbridge Gallery Small Scale Art Prize, with additional recognition in the Moonee Valley Art Prize, Border Art Prize, and Albert Park College Art Prize. Her work is noted for its atmospheric washes, subtle tonal shifts, and ability to evoke a quiet sense of immersion.
Her artistic direction continues to evolve across both painting and installation. Whether working with layered washes, oil paint, or organic materials, Helen creates meditative, nuanced compositions that explore the intersection between perception, landscape, and memory. Her practice seeks to cultivate a contemplative space—one that encourages viewers to pause, look closely, and reconnect with the subtleties of place.
Qualifications:
Undergraduate: Diploma of Teaching - Major Art - Victoria College - Toorak, VIC
Post Graduate: Bachelor of Education - Major in Art, Film and Video – Victoria College – Preston, VIC
Visual Arts – Byron School of Arts – 2024 – 2026 Mullumbimby NSW
Residencies:
2025
Nancy Fairfax AIR Studio - Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Centre (Dec 8-22)
Prizes:
2025
Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award - Online Salon
Dean Cogle Portrait Prize - Currumbin, QLD
The Doyles Art Award - Mudgeeraba, QLD
Fifty Squared Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery - Fitzroy VIC
Nimbin Art Fair and Prize - Nimbin NSW
Swell Art Prize – Gold Coast QLD
2023
Lethbridge Gallery 20000 Small Scale Art Prize – Brisbane QLD
C.A.S.E.S Postcards Art Prize – Mullumbimby NSW
2020
Border Art Prize – Tweed Regional Gallery, Sth Murwillumbah NSW
Moonee Valley Art Prize – Strathmore, Melbourne VIC
2018
Moonee Valley Art Prize – Strathmore, Melbourne VIC
Tacit Gallery – Palette Art Prize – Collingwood, Melbourne VIC
2017
Albert Park College Art Prize - Albert Park, Melbourne VIC
Solo Exhibitions:
2025
Echora, Sth Murwillumbah - If These Walls Could Talk - (December)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Silva Luna - Oeuvre (Sept)
2024
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – 11:11 Hopes and Dreams
2023
Art Post Uki, Uki – Quiet Repose
2021
Art Post Uki, Uki – Take Me To Your River
2020
Keith Café, Murwillumbah – Mist
M-Arts Precinct – Studio exhibition
2019
Art Shelter, Kingscliff – Escape
2018
Marios Café, Fitzroy – Escape
Group Shows:
2025
Tenfold - The Side Gallery, Brisbane
Gallery 3, Byron Bay - Micro 40 (recipient of First National encouragement award)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Oeuvre (Sept)
Bird Nerds Pop Up Gallery, Murwillumbah - Bird Nerds (Aug - Oct)
Black Fig Gallery, Alstonville - Ways of Seeing (August)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Winter Light
Incognito Show, Sydney
Gallery 3, Byron Bay - Micro 30
2024
Byron School of Art, Mullumbimby – Colour Theory
The Bank Gallery, Mullumbimby – Grand Opening
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Season of Renewal
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach - Summer Love
2023
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Women of the Tweed
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Harvest
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Place In The Sun
2022
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Habitat
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Dare to Dream
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Style de Maison
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Charis
Incognito Show – Sydney
2021
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Encore
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Dream Big
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – The Home Show
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Love Where We Live II
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Summer Breeze
2020
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – The Great Outdoors
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Wild at Heart
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Love Where We Live
Contact:
[email protected]
0419870305
Helen’s work is increasingly shaped by ideas of impermanence, belonging, and transition. She is interested in how environments—both lived and remembered—inform the way we see ourselves, and how place can carry emotional and psychological weight. Her practice often navigates the space between the seen and the felt, the familiar and the ambiguous, inviting a slower way of looking.
Beginning her career as an art teacher, Helen enriched children’s education through creativity while fostering a vibrant, art-filled home for her two daughters. She remains a strong advocate for arts education and the importance of creative practice within communities.
Helen majored in art during her studies at Victoria College, completing a Diploma of Teaching (Art) and a Bachelor of Education (Art, Film, and Video). She is currently undertaking a three-year Visual Arts course at the Byron School of Art (2024–2026), where she continues to refine her material language, compositional sensibilities, and conceptual depth.
Since establishing her studio at the M-Arts Precinct in 2020 and opening her gallery in Cabarita the same year, Helen has exhibited widely across Australia. She has held multiple solo exhibitions, including at Mist Gallery (Cabarita Beach), Art Post Uki, and Marios Café (Fitzroy, VIC). Her work has also appeared in numerous group shows, particularly throughout the Tweed region, where she has built a strong presence within the local arts community.
Helen’s achievements include being a finalist in the 2025 Swell Art Prize and the 2023 Lethbridge Gallery Small Scale Art Prize, with additional recognition in the Moonee Valley Art Prize, Border Art Prize, and Albert Park College Art Prize. Her work is noted for its atmospheric washes, subtle tonal shifts, and ability to evoke a quiet sense of immersion.
Her artistic direction continues to evolve across both painting and installation. Whether working with layered washes, oil paint, or organic materials, Helen creates meditative, nuanced compositions that explore the intersection between perception, landscape, and memory. Her practice seeks to cultivate a contemplative space—one that encourages viewers to pause, look closely, and reconnect with the subtleties of place.
Qualifications:
Undergraduate: Diploma of Teaching - Major Art - Victoria College - Toorak, VIC
Post Graduate: Bachelor of Education - Major in Art, Film and Video – Victoria College – Preston, VIC
Visual Arts – Byron School of Arts – 2024 – 2026 Mullumbimby NSW
Residencies:
2025
Nancy Fairfax AIR Studio - Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Centre (Dec 8-22)
Prizes:
2025
Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award - Online Salon
Dean Cogle Portrait Prize - Currumbin, QLD
The Doyles Art Award - Mudgeeraba, QLD
Fifty Squared Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery - Fitzroy VIC
Nimbin Art Fair and Prize - Nimbin NSW
Swell Art Prize – Gold Coast QLD
2023
Lethbridge Gallery 20000 Small Scale Art Prize – Brisbane QLD
C.A.S.E.S Postcards Art Prize – Mullumbimby NSW
2020
Border Art Prize – Tweed Regional Gallery, Sth Murwillumbah NSW
Moonee Valley Art Prize – Strathmore, Melbourne VIC
2018
Moonee Valley Art Prize – Strathmore, Melbourne VIC
Tacit Gallery – Palette Art Prize – Collingwood, Melbourne VIC
2017
Albert Park College Art Prize - Albert Park, Melbourne VIC
Solo Exhibitions:
2025
Echora, Sth Murwillumbah - If These Walls Could Talk - (December)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Silva Luna - Oeuvre (Sept)
2024
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – 11:11 Hopes and Dreams
2023
Art Post Uki, Uki – Quiet Repose
2021
Art Post Uki, Uki – Take Me To Your River
2020
Keith Café, Murwillumbah – Mist
M-Arts Precinct – Studio exhibition
2019
Art Shelter, Kingscliff – Escape
2018
Marios Café, Fitzroy – Escape
Group Shows:
2025
Tenfold - The Side Gallery, Brisbane
Gallery 3, Byron Bay - Micro 40 (recipient of First National encouragement award)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Oeuvre (Sept)
Bird Nerds Pop Up Gallery, Murwillumbah - Bird Nerds (Aug - Oct)
Black Fig Gallery, Alstonville - Ways of Seeing (August)
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy - Winter Light
Incognito Show, Sydney
Gallery 3, Byron Bay - Micro 30
2024
Byron School of Art, Mullumbimby – Colour Theory
The Bank Gallery, Mullumbimby – Grand Opening
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Season of Renewal
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach - Summer Love
2023
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Women of the Tweed
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Harvest
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Place In The Sun
2022
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Habitat
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Dare to Dream
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Style de Maison
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Charis
Incognito Show – Sydney
2021
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Encore
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Dream Big
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – The Home Show
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Love Where We Live II
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Summer Breeze
2020
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – The Great Outdoors
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Wild at Heart
Mist Gallery, Cabarita Beach – Love Where We Live
Contact:
[email protected]
0419870305