Amber Stokie

“Abstraction gives me the opportunity to be unique, as a triplet this is an unusual feeling.” - A.Stokie

Amber Stokie is an Australian artist whose abstract paintings draw on both personal experience and universal themes to explore shifting emotional states and the complexities of the human condition. Informed by her lived experience as a triplet, Stokie investigates the nuanced tension between shared identity and personal individuation, as well as the ongoing desire to be seen, heard, and valued - both within familial relationships and the wider creative landscape.

Stokie engages a variety of abstract styles and techniques, from biomorphic forms and gestural lyricism to the surreal and the folkloric. At times her paintings unfold through dreamlike, organic shapes that echo bodily or natural structures; at others they become restless fields of layered gesture, symbolic fragments, or ambiguous figures. She often paints with multiple brushes simultaneously, a gesture toward her triplet identity and the multiple, diverging paths a life can take.

Stokie describes her evolving practice as restless abstraction: a form of painting that avoids repetition, welcomes uncertainty, and remains open to continual re- imagination. Each body of work becomes part of a continuum where experimentation and revision are embraced as essential to the process. Through these shifting visual languages, Stokie invites viewers into ambiguous, visceral spaces that encourage slow and contemplative engagement, while affirming painting as an open field for individuality and emotional honesty.

Stokies text-based works on paper engage more directly with her desire to achieve a unique sense of self and to question her place in the world. The process of creating the artwork is documented, and the resulting video is part of the installation. Continuing her lightness of touch and choosing phrases that resonate with both dimensions of her identity, Stokie uses a technique she refers to as “mirror writing” where both left and right hands are employed simultaneously. A unique method that provides the viewer an insight into her inner-voice and concerns while also expressing the sensation of duality she feels in response to the presence of her triplet siblings.

Amber Stokie holds a Master of Fine Arts with high distinction at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Since 2006 whilst showing her work in group and solo exhibitions she has curated exhibitions at Artasis Gallery in Melbourne and completed numerous commissions and live painting performances, including at the National Gallery of Victoria. She has been a finalist in the Williamstown, Stanthorpe and Blacktown prizes and has won “people’s choice” at AGENDO emerging art award. In 2016 she was recipient of the ADFAS Young Artist Award for her RMIT (Melbourne) MFA finalist work, the next year she successfully had a solo exhibition at the Wodonga Public Art Gallery in Regional Australia. Stokie has been awarded multiple grants for her work from both Council and RMIT University in Australia. In 2019 she was commissioned to perform a key work “Are You An Artist Too” from her Masters studies at the 2019 Montsalvat Arts Centre in Melbourne. Stokie’s work is widely collected both in Australia and overseas.