Kiata Mason

Working on Birpi Land on the mid-north coast of NSW, Kiata is an established still-life artist best known for her depictions of domestic scenes and home environments centred around the idea of creating a space to pull the community together, often around a table laden with food. Bringing narratives of suggestive portraiture, the work without the person, simply remnants of what was or could be. Utilising objects with history, many of which are familiar and many which are not, Mason plays with the tension between the past and the present, and the idea that nothing and no one can exist without history, without something that came before it. Portraying narrative through her curated table-scapes, Kiata explores the interplay between human connection, emotion, politics and the lived experience of being an artist. Her work is both deeply personal and universal to the human condition.

Says Kiata of her work, “In depicting the sharing of food, I hope to create an energetic space full of generosity and collaboration, revelling in the colours as a rich acknowledgement of how much we have to exchange and learn from one another, and a recognition of our ultimate interconnectedness.”

Kiata holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drawing) with Honours, and a Master of Fine Arts (Drawing) at the National Art School. Kiata has frequented many significant art awards, most recently awarded as a finalist in the 2023 STILL Award, Mosman Art Prize 2023 and Sulman Art Prize 2023. Kiata’s work won the Works on Paper section of the Muswellbrook Art Prize and has been selected as a finalist in numerous other national awards including the Dobell Drawing Prize, Blake Prize, Muswellbrook Art Prize painting section, Paddington Art Prize, Still: National Still Life Award, Black Swan Portrait Prize, Portia Geach Memorial Award and Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing.