Biography
Nathan Murphy (born May 2005) is an Australian Artist from the Central Coast New South Wales. He works under two key disciplines. Creating fine arts works, typically using oil paints on canvas, and creating concept art through use of digital mediums. He has sold work internationally and is an award-winning artist.
Nathan’s fine arts works are reflective in nature; each piece is treated as a vignette revealing a larger narrative when viewed alongside his larger bodies of work. Nathan works within a series-based approach. The confines of each conceptual series of work marking distinct chapters within his life as an artist.
2026 has become one of Nathan’s most notable chapters as he made his Sydney debut, with two back to back shows in April. ‘red=meltdown’ at Chippendales Goodspace Gallery and ‘BLACK’ in Enmore’s Tilliqua Tilliqua Gallery. Moreover, Nathan would complete his fifth feature body of work titled “God & Violence”. A five piece oil painting series of which two artworks “Perdition & Rite” and “Notable & Ephemeral” would see exhibition in July through the art collective Index 42.
2025 saw Nathan complete his largest body of work to date. The nine piece oil painting series titled “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” contains some of Nathan’s most raw and vulnerable works to date. The series uses recurring themes and symbols to craft a narrative that is seamless between works for those perceptive enough to engage with it more intimately. His email list has served as a great tool for his audience to engage with “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” throughout its two-year long creation. Paintings such as “BITE” feel ever relevant in the visceral feelings evoked from its imagery. While artworks such as “Death In Penitence” and “The Devil Dressed In White”, explore personal narratives with a dark fantasy edge and surrealist sensibilities. Nathan was able to share pieces of the narrative of “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” during ‘Sound and Vison” at Drifters Wharf in May of that same year.
“The Scaffolding That Formed Me” (2023) is yet another stand out body of work within Nathan’s large and ever-expanding oeuvre. “The Scaffolding That Formed Me” would be selected for showcase at the University of Newcastle Ourimbah Campus. 2023 was a big year for Nathan as it saw him win first prize for his entry into ‘A Central Vision’ at the ‘Gosford Regional Art Gallery’.
Nathan furthermore has an extensive catalogue of digital illustrations reaching into entertainment design. These works are a demonstration of his use of visual language to communicate concepts and ideas through art.
Project Statement
I am an artist based on the Central Coast of Australia.
I work primarily in a series-based approach. Treating each piece as a small vignette contributing to a larger body of work. Each conceptual series of work acts a reflective chapter within my larger oeuvre.
I believe that the artmaking process is deeply reflective of the artmaker. The truth of this statement has been demonstrated in the shared communal interactions with my own work as my process has developed. As I have furthered my narrative crafting and compositional abilities, I have been better able to engage the viewer through my work. The more of myself I put into each piece the more the work reflects the viewer.
