Tia Madden (b.1999) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer based on Dharug land in the Blue Mountains. Her practice is concerned with the porous boundary between drawing and writing, the poetics of illegibility, and the potential for abstract marks to behave communicatively when framed - or misread - as language.
Performing speculative fictions, Madden’s installations act as vessels for communication, even if they only speak in worlds outside our own. She looks to challenge the authority of interpretation, aligning with critical discussions on how meaning is formed, distorted or artificially imposed as a way of unsettling our ideas of how, where, and when meaning dwells in human-made marks.
Current
Group exhibition, Gosford Emerging, Gosford Regional Gallery, 28 June - 24 August 2025
Assistant Curator at Penrith Regional Gallery
Master of Fine Arts (Research) Candidate, University of New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture
Solo Exhibitions
2025, Correspondence from a Thin Place, Barometer Gallery, Paddington, NSW - presented by Kudos
2024 - 2025, Some Sort of Notation, Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo, NSW
Group Exhibitions
(upcoming) 2025, Palimpsest, Newtown, NSW
2025, Gosford Emerging, Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW
2024, Torsion, Luna Studio, Newtown, NSW - curated by Yazmeen Meedin
2024, A Message to the Future, a Note from the Past, Airspace Projects, Marrickville, NSW
2024, Twelvefold, Penrith Regional Gallery, Emu Plains, NSW
2023, Falak Gallery, Garden City, Cairo, Egypt
2023, Luft, Mounted ARI, Springwood, NSW
2023, Beyond the Dream, Comber St. Studios, Paddington, NSW - curated by Elaine Kim
2023, Cast, Mounted ARI, Springwood, NSW (curatorial)
2023, In Flux: Liminal Longing, Comber St. Studios, Paddington, NSW - curated by Fiona Macpherson
2022, The Annual, UNSW Galleries, Paddington, NSW
2022, Encompassment, ADSpace, Paddington, NSW
2022, The Other Art Fair, The Cutaway, Barangaroo, Sydney, NSW
2021 - 2022, Birdland, Blue Mountains Heritage Centre, Blackheath, NSW
2021, The Annual, UNSW Galleries, Paddington, NSW
2021, Pulse, ADSpace, Paddington, NSW
Education
2024 - 2026, Master of Fine Arts by Research, University of New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture
2022, Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours, University of New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture
2019 - 2021, Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture
Grants, Awards & Prizes (selected)
2025, Finalist - Gosford Emerging 2025, Gosford Regional Gallery, NSW
2025, Finalist - St. Columbas Art Prize, Springwood, NSW
2024, Winner - Kudos Emerging Artist Awards, Sydney, NSW
2024, Finalist - Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award (JADA), Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, NSW
2024, Finalist - Kudos Emerging Writer Awards, Sydney, NSW
2024, Finalist - Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Paddington, NSW
2024, Recipient - University Postgraduate Award & Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
2023, Recipient - Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant
2023, Finalist - M16 Drawing Prize, M16 Artspace, Griffith, ACT
2023, Highly Commended - Lloyd Rees Emerging Artist Awards, Gallery Lane Cove, Lane Cove, NSW
2023, Highly Commended - Gosford Art Prize, Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW
2023, Highly Commended - Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, Adelaide Perry Gallery, Croydon, NSW
2022, Finalist - Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Paddington, NSW
2022, Winner - The Other Art Fair New Futures, Sydney, NSW
2022, Finalist - Jenny Birt Painting Prize, Paddington, NSW
2021, Finalist - Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Paddington, NSW
Residencies & Programs
2023, Out of the Circle Artist Residency, Cairo, Egypt
2023, Ancher Points: Emerging Artists Intensive, Penrith Regional Gallery, Emu Plains, NSW
Authored Writing
2024, a red disk swimming in a blue sea in Framework issue no. 42
2024, Misreading Mis/reading in Framework issue no. 40
2023, A Disproportionate Subtitle in Cast
Bibliography
2024, Drawing Language, catalogue essay by Nina Stromqvist
2024, Obscured by Darkness, Revealed by Light, catalogue essay by Rose Dolenec Hannan
2023, Grantee Feature - Tia Madden, Ian Potter Cultural Trust
Curatorial (independent)
2023, Cast, Mounted ARI, Springwood
Collections
Private collections throughout Australia
Training
2023, Coppersmithing Short Course, Noqoush Academy of Art, Cairo, Egypt
I acknowledge the Dharug people and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on, and pay my respects to Elders of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Sovereignty has never been ceded, and this always was, and always will be, Aboriginal Land.