“My art is a celebration of life…I love experimentation, details, the beauty of colours…the simplicity of the composition within the complexity of the mediums…Playfulness is essential in my practice :) inspired by nature, I combine the known with the unknown, in search for an instant of pure joy… ”

– Gaia Starace

Bio

Gaia Starace is a Rome-born, Sydney-based multidisciplinary artist, architect, and educator whose practice weaves together traditional foundations, contemporary experimentation, and site-specific sensitivity. Classically trained in architecture at the University of Rome, her work is rooted in spatial awareness, conceptual rigour, and material expression. Starace moves fluidly between sculpture, painting, installation, photography, textile, and drawing—creating immersive compositions that connect the physical world with inner landscapes of memory, identity, and spirituality.

As a site-specific installation artist, Starace creates works that are deeply responsive to place, both physical and symbolic. Her practice merges playfulness with reality, often disrupting aesthetic expectations and challenging assumptions around permanence, space, and belonging. Through bold gestures and subtle interventions, she explores the emotional and cultural forces that shape human environments—infusing sacredness and sensitivity into material forms.

Her painting practice further expands this dialogue. Drawing from abstraction and architecture, her canvases are built with oil, acrylic, pastel, and mixed media in expressive, layered compositions. Rich textures, vibrant colours, and intuitive marks capture transformation and human emotion. A recurring, distinctive "line" emerges across her visual language—part structure, part movement—symbolising connection across time, geography, and personal experience. It becomes a metaphorical thread linking her Roman roots with the Australian landscape, and the intimate with the universal.

Starace’s works are both conceptual and sensorial. Whether installed in public spaces or confined to canvas, her art invites viewers to move beyond the visible surface and engage in a deeper aesthetic and emotional encounter. Themes of spirituality, ecology, love, and cultural memory recur throughout her practice, revealing a sustained commitment to exploring the unseen forces that shape our lives.

She has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, including solo exhibitions and collaborative projects. Her dedication to craftsmanship and curiosity is evident across disciplines. Beyond her studio practice, Starace is also an accomplished interior designer and educator. She currently teaches Interior Design at TAFE NSW Enmore and Certificate III in Arts and Cultural Administration at TAFE NSW Ultimo, mentoring the next generation of spatial thinkers and cultural practitioners.

Solo Exhibition

2025 upcoming solo exhibition, CASA\HOUSE, at The Concourse, Chatswood/Willoughby Council, AU

2023 Forever Clouds, The Incinerator Art Space, Willoughby

Group Exhibition

2024           Form & Flesh, Herk Alexander Gallery, Stanmore, AU

2022           Stretch, The Concourse, Chatswood/Willoughby Council, AU

2021 Opening Curated by Sergio Gomez. Sponsored by Art NXT Level and ArtPlacer, an online exhibition.

2020           Summer Rain, The Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK

2020           Enigma, The Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK

2019           The square and the circle: a space of playfulness contemplation/A&D Annual, UNSW Art & Design, Cofa at Kudos Gallery, Paddington

2019           The square and the circle: a space of playfulness contemplation, 2019/Capstone Project, Comber Street Studio, Paddington, Australia 

2019           Moon Rings, 2019/NOX Night Sculpture, Randwick, Australia
2018 This is What I have to Show For It, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia