NATHAN PADDISON

Nathan Paddison was born in 1983 in Taree, a small town on the coast of New South Wales, Australia. His path to painting was neither straightforward nor designed. Over more than a decade cycling through incarceration, Paddison turned to art not as a hobby but as something closer to survival — crediting painting with giving him a second chance at life in a way that carries more weight when you understand how literally he means it.

Paddison operates from a position that most art world narratives would overlook entirely. He did not emerge from an art school. He does not have an art background. What he has is a body of work that speaks loudly enough to make those absences irrelevant. He is self-taught He has been named a finalist for the Lester Prize at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Australia's most prestigious portraiture award. The Lester Prize recognition in 2022 was particularly significant. Judged by an independent national panel, a finalist position for a self-taught painter with fewer than four years of serious practice signals institutional attention of the kind that is difficult to manufacture and meaningful to collectors. His acquisition by Artbank, which purchases work for long-term institutional holding and loan to public spaces across Australia, confirmed it.

His international representation reflects the serious collector interest his work has attracted. Nathan works with galleries in Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States, including a major gallery in New York, whose artists include Andy Warhol, Banksy, KAWS, and Keith Haring. The company his work keeps is a considered position, not a coincidence. In his artistic practice, Paddison ventures beyond acrylic paint, using a variety of mediums, including oil, acrylic, spray paint, charcoal, pencil, collage, wax crayon and marker. A steadfast advocate of artistic exploration, he eagerly embraces new mediums and always tries to push the boundaries of his creative expression. Through his work, Paddison seeks to engage his audience, as his paintings are a poignant testament to his personal journey of redemption and rebirth.

For Nathan, painting is not just a process, but a place of escape and belonging. “My art is me, I am my art.”