Naomi Hobson

Born 1978, Coen, Queensland, Australia

Kaantju & Umpila
Lives & Works – Coen

A member of a dynamic new generation of First Nations artists, Naomi Hobson has exhibited widely both within Australia and internationally since 2008. Hobson resides on the banks of the riverbeds her grandparents were born. Her colourful abstract compositions act as a link between individuality and a shared identity. Her continual inspiration is the vast traditional lands of her ancestors surrounding the town of Coen in Queensland and her culture. 

Her work was featured in ‘Photo 22: Being Human’, part of the Australian International Festival of Photography in Melbourne. She was also featured in the prestigious 2020 Tarnanthi exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia. In 2022, she was awarded the Geelong Art Prize for her work ‘Sand Dunes on the Coast’. In 2023, she was a finalist in the Wynne Prize and received Honourable Mention in the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Photography Award in Paris, France. She has been a finalist in numerous prizes including the Wynne Prize (2023), National Works on Paper Prize (2024), Hadley's Art Prize (2024), Len Fox Painting Award (2024), Alice Prize (2020, 2016), Ravenswood Art Prize (2023, 2021) and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2023). Her work has been acquired by institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Shepparton Art Museum, Bendigo Art Gallery, HOTA (Home of the Arts) and Cairns Art Gallery.