TAI SNAITH
"If the richness of mythology, the mysteries of the forest with their naked women and the intimacies of flowers start to make the air too rarified, we are brought back to earth with a gentle thud of domesticity and interior life: paintings of little cruets and other vessels meticulously sourced from second hand shops, and, especially, the breakfast she shares with her son each morning – avocado and vegemite on soldier toasts, with boiled egg. There’s a gentle humility in this and all Tai Snaith’s work. She dares to think deeply and randomly, to explore the heights and depths of humanity, but remains always connected with the realities of daily life."
Olivia Meehan, 2025
BIOGRAPHY
Tai Snaith is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and has held solo exhibitions since 2009 in both commercial and public galleries including Heide Museum of Modern Art, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, the State Library of Victoria, Bayside Gallery Brighton; and ARI’s including Long Division Gallery at Schoolhouse Studios, Bus Projects, C3 gallery, Chapter House Lane Gallery, Kings ARI, Blindside and West Space. She was highly commended in The Churchie Emerging Arts Prize (2015) and is a recipient of a Bundanon Residency (2024), the Australia Council for the Arts New Work Grant (2018) Banyule Art Award for works on paper (2013), the Australia Council for the Arts Tokyo Studio Residency (2013). Tai has been a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award, Bayside Painting Prize, Salon de Refuses at S.H. Ervin Gallery, Len Fox Painting Prize, Woolhara Small Sculpture Prize, Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Marquette: Sculpture Award at McClelland Gallery (forthcoming) and the World Illustration Awards (London).
Tai has curated and produced projects and public commissions including the inaugural public sculpture commission ‘Train of Life’ for Mitchell Shire (2025), 'Memory Palaces' public sculpture commission for Great Victorian Rail trail (2023), the Metro Tunnel x Royal Botanic Gardens (2020), State Library of Victoria (major commission 2018), ACCA (podcast 2018 and ongoing), the Melbourne Art Fair (2008), New Wave Festival (2006) and the Emerging Writers Festival (2007). She has published seven children’s books with Thames and Hudson since 2012. Her work is held in the collections of Artbank, the National Gallery of Australia, the State Library of Victoria, Bayside City Council Arts and Heritage Centre as well as public and private collections.
ARTIST CV
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WORKS
PAST EXHIBITIONS
NEWS
TAI SNAITH FINALIST IN 2026 SHELLEY SIMPSON CERAMICS PRIZE AT CRAFT VICTORIA
Tai Snaith’s work ‘Affirmative Animals’ is a finalist in this year’s Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize. The Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize (SSCP) was established in 2020 by Mud Australia Founder and Creative Director, Shelley Simpson, to support and champion the next generation of Australian ceramicists. Presented in partnership with Craft Victoria, the annual prize is open…
TAI SNAITH ACQUIRED BY SHEPPARTON ART MUSEUM
Works from Tai Snaith’s ‘Flotilla (there’s no dignity in haste)’ series of slugs have been acquired by the Shepparton Art Museum. The Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) holds the most significant collection of historic and contemporary Australian ceramics in regional Australia. The collection strives to encompass all aspects of ceramic production in Australia and be comprehensive…
TAI SNAITH EXHIBITED IN 2026 NGV TRIENNIAL
Tai Snaith will be exhibited in the forthcoming NGV Triennial from the 13th of December 2026 to 11 April 2027. Featuring more than eighty ambitious and thought-provoking projects, including major new commissions, the 2026 NGV Triennial offers a global journey through contemporary art and design. Unfolding across all four levels of NGV International, the fourth…
TAI SNAITH FINALIST IN MAQUETTE: SCULPTURE AWARD AT MCCLELLAND GALLERY
Tai Snaith is exhibited as a finalist in the Maquette: Sculpture Award at McClelland Gallery with her sculpture Black dog slippery dip until 22 February. The inaugural Maquette: Sculpture Award brings together 61 sculptures by contemporary Australian artists. One entry will be awarded $20,000 and will become part of McClelland’s renowned permanent collection, which is focused on…
TAI SNAITH WORKS ACQUIRED BY BAYSIDE GALLERY EXHIBITED IN ‘FUTURE PAST’ UNTIL 19 OCTOBER
Tai Snaith’s work recently acquired by Bayside Gallery is exhibited in ‘Future past: recent additions to the Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection’ at Bayside Gallery, Brighton until 19 October. This exhibition presents a selection of artworks that have been recently acquired by Bayside City Council. A range of themes, styles and periods are…
TAI SNAITH ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT JACKY WINTER GARDENS
Tai Snaith was the August Artist-in-Residence at Jacky Winters Gardens and was photographed by Gavin Green: During her recent residency at Jacky Winter Gardens, Tai and her gentle giant hound Wally re-visited many places of her childhood (Tai grew up for many years in the hills), which has formed the research for two of her…