Emmaleen Diaz is a Colombian Australian abstract expressionist painter, content creator, and performer based in Sydney. Her work is defined by its colourful, bold, and expressive nature, exploring themes of identity, place, and the natural world through abstract, portraiture, and figurative mixed media in both acrylic and oil paint. Official website: http://emmaleendiaz.com
She graduated from the National Art School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting, in 2022, and furthered her training with a Post Baccalaureate at the Florence School of Fine Arts in September 2025, followed by a four-month art residency in Florence, Italy in late 2025. This European experience now directly informs her current body of work as she develops a major solo gallery show for 2027.
Emmaleen was a finalist on Season 1 of ABC’s Portrait Artist of the Year Australia in 2025 and was awarded the Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship in 2023 by the Veolia Mulwaree Trust Fund. Her practice has been featured in Art Edit Magazine and she is a featured artist on both Bluethumb and Artbid, with works included in Artbid Online Auctions in August and September 2025.
She has exhibited extensively across Australia, including solo exhibitions at Centennial Vineyards in Bowral and 107 Redfern, and group exhibitions at Mental Gallery in Bowral, Aarwun Gallery in Canberra, Tyger Gallery in Yass, Good Space Gallery in Chippendale, Hillview Sculpture Park in Sutton Forest, and Penrith Regional Gallery. Her exhibition history also includes My Paloma Group Exhibition in Surry Hills, Berida Hotel and Coffee Culture in Bowral. She was the inaugural artist in residence at Mental Gallery in 2020 and an artist in residence at Hillview Sculpture Park in 2020 and 2021.
Beyond painting, Emmaleen works as a content creator and has screen credits as a background extra in the feature films Street Fighter and Kockroach, and Season 2 of Ten Pound Poms for Stan and BBC. She trained as a model with Royal Modelle and studied music at the Australian Institute of Music.
Emmaleen is available for artist commission work, creating custom abstract expressionist and figurative paintings for private collectors and commercial spaces. She grew up in Bowral, NSW, and has been exhibiting and winning awards since childhood, including multiple first prizes at the Moss Vale Show and recognition at the Sydney Royal Arts & Crafts Show and Operation Art at Penrith Regional Gallery. She has built a following of over 30,000 on Instagram @emmaleen_diaz. View portfolio and commissions at http://emmaleendiaz.com. Her inspirations include Wendy Sharpe, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse