Claudia Greathead’s (born 1992, Brisbane) practice explores memory, emotion, and the subconscious through enigmatic, painterly scenes. Drawing from family photographs, travel, and personal experience, her work unfolds as a series of loosely connected narratives, where figures, animals, and interior spaces shift between the familiar and the uncanny.

Greathead’s paintings are characterised by a tactile, expressive approach to paint, where thick, gestural application allows forms to emerge and dissolve across the surface. Figures appear suspended within dimly lit interiors or ambiguous landscapes, often accompanied by symbolic motifs – flowers, animals, bridges, or domestic objects – that suggest psychological states rather than fixed meanings. Her use of colour moves between deep, shadowy tones and moments of heightened intensity, creating a sense of quiet drama and emotional ambiguity. Across her practice, paint itself becomes a way of thinking through experience, a means of navigating identity and belonging.

“I’m a bit of a black sheep and I’ve used painting, since I was a little girl, as a way of dealing with that.”

Greathead holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) from the Queensland College of Art, Brisbane (2014), and a Master of Art Therapy from La Trobe University, Melbourne (2020). She has been a finalist in the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize (2014, 2015) and has been shortlisted for the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship (2019), a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize (2023, 2025) and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (semi-finalist, 2016).