Tracey Esteves' artmaking practice is grounded in storytelling, identity, and the vibrant spirit of Australian culture—often weaving in nostalgia, social commentary, and vivid colour to explore the layered connections between place, memory, and belonging. Working across painting, mixed media, and installation, I draw inspiration from everyday Australian life, Indigenous and multicultural histories, and iconic design elements that speak to our shared experience.
My style ranges from hard-edged pop aesthetics to lyrical and expressive landscapes, often merging historical references with contemporary concerns. Whether through a gleaming classic car outside a mid-century home, or a panoramic scene of protest and unity, each work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and reimagine the stories that shape us.
In 2025, I was honoured to have my work exhibited at NSW Parliament House, a significant recognition of the cultural and artistic value of my practice. My inclusion in this prestigious exhibition was also officially acknowledged in NSW Parliament Hansard, further validating the importance of my artistic voice within the broader dialogue of Australian arts and community.
Through my continued work, I aim to celebrate our complex national identity while advocating for unity, respect, and creative resilience.
1991-2017 as Visual Arts Coordinator and 2018 – 2019 Creative and Performing Arts Coordinator.
In May 2018 Tracey held her first exhibition at Katoomba Gallery 108 where for the first time she was able to showcase her unique style to art enthusiasts. Her first exhibition was hailed a success where she sold many artworks to collectors. Internationally acclaimed Australian artist Johnny Romeo, remarked at the opening of that exhibition “Her subject matter is distinctly Australian….the audience instantly recognises it….it’s part of our DNA.”
At the opening of Tracey’s fifth solo exhibition, renowned art curator and gallery owner Francis Keevel introduced Tracey as having “ a bold, iconographic style which makes her a distinctly recognisable artist in the Australian contemporary art space. Tracey uniquely combines elements of Pop Art, Formalism and Post-Modernism in her iconographic work. Expect bold colours, defining lines and characteristic stylisation in her latest exhibition." Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay
Following her solo exhibitions and with the impetus of its success Tracey’s work began to flourish and her style continues to develop leaving in its wake a reputation for individual style and cultural representation. As she further explains:-
"Inspired by truly Aussie culture, I use images that evoke emotions connecting feelings one has when identifying with being uniquely aussie. Each artwork is an honest, authentic and sometimes comedic representation of bygone eras from the Aussie cultural landscape. I want the viewer to be immersed in
iconography from yesterday juxtaposed against the progression of today. My colours are bright, welcoming and draw you in to an otherwise forgotten landscape of childhood memories of times past and lost forever in the emergence of progress. Using a variety of mixed media, I use the power of outline to enhance each element in my work drawing the viewer ever closer.
I am a proactive and passionate visual artist, a “mixer “and “producer “of figurative culturally Australian inspired works. My artwork references Australian history, and iconography and explores the varying relationships between popular culture and fine art. My work appropriates, produces and mixes images from popular Australian culture which merge high and low art, and explore colour and shape. It captures the viewer providing a sense of familiarity and enchantment within my culturally Australian inspired works. I have a preoccupation with the formal elements of surface, space, pattern, and colour, and an intellectual interest in exploring place, narrative and identity. My artworks reflect elements of pop art, of post-modern appropriation, of formalism, and an appreciation of texture, line, colour and shape”.
Exhibitions:
2018 May 19th – 26th- First Solo Art exhibition “AUSTRALIAN LEGENDS AND STORIES” Gallery 0ne 88 Fine Arts Katoomba opening address Johnny Romeo. Curator Victor Peralta.
2018 August 1st- September 6th -Solo Exhibition “AUSTOPIA” Downing Centre Foyer Display Cases, Sydney.
2018 December 3rd – January 5th - Solo Exhibition “THE LUCKY COUNTRY” Art house Hotel Sydney, Galleries Victoria.
2019 January 3rd- February 5th Solo Exhibition “A SENSE OF BELONGING” Dragon’s Lair Gallery, Hurstville Museum and Gallery. Curated by Dr Birgit Heilmann MPHA
2019 March 5th – 24th TRACEY ESTEVES new collection exhibition Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay
2019 28th May -16th June “EQUUS” Art group exhibition Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay
2019 26th May- 24th June “AUSTOPIA No.2 ”Solo exhibition Downing Centre Sydney
9th November Collaboration with Proud Living, Silverwater -12 artworks on display in showroom
2019 24th October- 27th October -The Other Art Fair Barangaroo Sydney
2019 8th November “Wonderland” exhibition Tamarama Beach in conjunction with “Sculptures by the Sea.”
2019 13th December to 15th December Gallery 109 Manly Sydney Australia
2020 - Upcoming Exhibitions
May 2020 “Solo Show” Thienny Lee Gallery, Edgecliff , Sydney NSW
October 2020 NSW State Parliament House Macquarie Street Sydney
2022-2024 A variety of group exhibitions including Equus Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay Sydney
Celebration of women artists Frances Keevil Gallery NSW
2023. Personal Collection Bowral Road Art GAllery
JUly 2025 Still Turning, Still Burning, Nsw Parliameny House
