Katie Breckon lives between Aotearoa, New Zealand and north-west Australia. Her time living in the Kimberley has deepened her connection to remote environments and emotive landscapes.
Her creative practice, both rhythmic and meditative, serves as an acknowledgment and a form of catharsis. It explores the cultural, ecological, and psychological impacts of disconnection and belonging.
Breckon's extensive work supporting arts, museum and heritage projects in remote Kimberley communities has sparked a curiosity about her own ancestral ties to place, ritual, and natural habitats. Her use of historic wet plate photography and techniques like harvesting and charring reflect this reconnection and engagement with landscapes, processes, and materials of symbolic significance.
RESIDENCIES / MENTORSHIPS
Irish Museum of Modern Art exchange with Fremantle Art Centre
Dublin, Ireland
2024 (2.5 months)
Caselberg Trust's Creative Connections Residency
Dunedin, New Zealand
2024 (3 months)
Curatorial Considerations, Perth Centre for Photography
online
2022
Megalo Residency, Megalo Print Studio and Gallery
Canberra
2022 (1 month)
Regional Assembly, Regional Arts Australia
online
2021 - 2022
Incubate, Perth Centre for Photography
online
2021
Fremantle Art Centre Residency
Perth, West Australia
01 - 02/2018
Baldessin Press
St Andrews, Victoria
2017 (5 weeks)
Fremantle Art Centre
Perth, West Australia
01 - 02/2017 (5 weeks)
Basil Hall Editions
Braidwood, Australia
2016 (2 weeks)
Wardlow Art Residency
Melbourne, Australia
2007 (6 months)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Backtrack, Marawar-ak | From the West: Contemporary Art from Western Australia
Fremantle Art Centre, Western Australia
2022
Ochre & Light
Fox Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
2019
Ochre & Light
Perth Centre for Photography at Janet Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth
2018
Set This House In Order
Edmund Pearce Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2014
Real State
Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2014
Set This House In Order
30 Upstairs, Wellington, New Zealand
2013
Set This House In Order,
Perth Centre for Photography, Australia
2013
Like A Thief In The Night
Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2012
The Monitor
Govett-Brewster, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2010
Project Window
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
2009
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Alchemy, Not Fair
Melbourne, Australia
2023
KANANGOOR/Shimmer
Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
2023
Noir
Wallace Art Gallery and Architectural Studio Perth, Western Australia
2023
Baldessin Press
The Legacy, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2022
Here Now 21
There Is, Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia
2021
Women in Photography, Lay of the Land
Informality Gallery, UK
2020
Baldessin Studio
Montsalvat, Victoria
2019
Ochre and Light
Fox Galleries, Melbourne
2019
Party of Special Things
Fox Galleries, Melbourne
2019
Safe Keeping
PS Art Space Perth, Western Australia
2018
Not Standing Still
Blue Oyster, Dunedin, New Zealand
2018
New Dawn, Group Show
Fox Galleries, Melbourne
2018
Trace Elements
Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, West Australia
2017
Clip Award
Perth Centre for Photography, Perth, Australia
2017
Inflorescence
Studio Hovea, Perth, Western Australia
2017
CCP Salon
Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2017
CCP Salon
Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2015
Degrees of Remembrance
Quay Gallery, Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, New Zealand
2014
Wallace Art Awards
Pah Homestead and Pataka Museum, New Zealand
2012
This Must Be The Place
City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand
2012
Open Studios
Lyall Bay Studio, Wellington, New Zealand
2010
Residency Exhibitions
Wardlow, Melbourne
2007
William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize
Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
2006
Final Product
Expressions Art Centre, Wellington, New Zealand
2005
Drawing Show
Gallery Dalgleish, Whanganui, New Zealand
2004
Creatures and Creations
Gallery Dalgleish, Whanganui, New Zealand
2004
RECENT CURATORIAL AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Lead Artist
Percent for Art: Derby District High School
Department of Finance and Bateman Architects, West Kimberley, West Australia
2022
Assistant Photography Workshop Facilitator and Trainer
Everyday Wyndham
Camera Story and Boab Health Service, Wyndham, East Kimberley, West Australia
2021
Curator
Kimberley Photographers Instagram takeover
Women in Photography Australia and New Zealand, online
2021
Co-Curator
Mowanjum Museum
Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre, Kimberley, West Australia
2019 - 2021
Assistant Photography Workshop Facilitator and Trainer
Light On Country
Camera Story with Derby District High School
Windjana Gorge, Kimberley, West Australia
2018
Project Lead
My Face Our Place
Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre
Derby, West Kimberley, Australia
2013
COLLECTIONS
• Artbank Collection
• Athenaeum Club, VCA Art Collection, Melbourne
• Janet Holmes a Court Collection
• Shire of Broome Collection
• Shire of Derby West Kimberley
• University of Western Australia
AWARDS
Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Award
Overall Award
Shire of Broome, West Australia
2021
Kimberley Art Prize
Overall Award
West Australia
2018
CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography
Deakin University Photographic Award
Melbourne
2017
Kimberley Photography Awards
Best Portrait
West Australia
2016
Shinju Matsuri Art Awards
Overall Award - Shire of Broome Acquisitive Prize
Broome, West Australia
2015
Kimberley Photographic Award
Overall Award and Best Black and White Photo
Kimberley, West Australia
2014
CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography
Best Inkjet Print
Melbourne
2013
American Aperture Awards
Best Still Life Award in entered category
USA
2013
Picture This, Brunswick Street Gallery
Highly Commended Award
Melbourne
2011
Victoria College of the Arts
Athenaeum Club Visual Art Award
Melbourne
2005
Wanganui Quay School of the Arts
Media Award
Whanganui, New Zealand
2004
GRANTS
Quick Response Grant
Regional Arts WA, Western Australia
2024
Project Grant
Regional Arts Australia
2022
Quick Response Grant
Regional Arts WA, Western Australia
2018
National Digital Forum Scholarship
Te Papa, New Zealand
2018
Creative Development
Culture and the Arts WA, Western Australia
2017
Quick Response Grant
Regional Arts WA, Western Australia
2017
Projects Grant
Regional Arts WA, Western Australia
2016
Creative Development
Department of Culture and the Arts, West Australia
2016
Quick Response Grant
Regional Arts WA, Western Australia
2014
Artflight
Department Culture of the Arts, West Australia
2013
PUBLICATIONS / REVIEWS / INTERVIEWS
Art Almanac (cover)
June edition promoting KANANGOOR/Shimmer at Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Australia
2023
Regional Assembly Podcast with Cristian Tablazon
Regional Arts Australia
2022
Imprint Magazine
Safe Keeping, Australia
2021
Art Collector
Exhibition preview
2018
Un Projects
Treading Lightly, Australia
2017
Fremantle Art Centre website
Artist in Residence
2017
Lucinda Magazine
Queensland Centre for Photography
Australia
2015
Fabric Magazine
USA
2014
Eye Contact
Exhibition Review by Emma Jameson: Connotative Distortions'
Enjoy Public Art Gallery, New Zealand
2014
Eye Contact
Exhibition Review by Peter Ireland: 'Lifelike', Degrees of Remembrance
Quay Gallery Whanganui, New Zealand
2014
Design Files
Australia
2013
Ampersand Magazine, issue 3
The Fade, Australia
2011
EDUCATION
Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment
North Regional TAFE, Australia
2016
Diploma in Photography (first year)
Photographic Studies College, Melbourne, Australia
2011
Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching
Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
2008
Postgraduate Diploma in Visual Arts (Hons)
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University, Australia
2005
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction
Whanganui Quay School of the Arts, New Zealand
2004
Diploma in Visual Arts
Wellington Institute of Technology, New Zealand
2002
















