Nina Barnden is an artist based in Adelaide, South Australia.
Since graduating from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2024, Barnden has continued to develop a painting practice centred on bringing familiar imagery into unexpected relationships. Her paintings create psychologically charged scenes that explore the tension between attraction and consequence. Through these compositions, she explores how desire, nostalgia and the pursuit of control shape one’s perception of reality.
Barnden has exhibited in group exhibitions including the Adelaide Central School of Art Graduate Exhibition (2024) and Forbidden Fruit at Floating Goose Studios (2026). Her work has been recognised with the Adelaide Central School of Art Graduate Judges' Commendation (2024), Highly Commended at the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Youthscape Art Prize (2024, 2026), and the Adelaide Central School of Art Graduate Support Kickstart Program Grant (2025). Alongside her studio practice, Barnden is expanding her work into public art through council commissions and mural projects.
CV
Born in 2003 in Adelaide, South Australia
Resides and works in South Australia
EDUCATION
2021-2024, Bachelor of Visual Art, Adelaide Central School of Art, Adelaide, South Australia
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026, Youthscape Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of the Arts, Adelaide, South Australia
2026, Forbidden Fruit, Floating Goose Studios, Adelaide, South Australia
2024, Adelaide Central School of Art Graduate Exhibition, Adelaide Central School of Art, Adelaide, South Australia
2024, Youthscape Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of the Arts, Adelaide, South Australia
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2026, The Curtain Never Closes, Commissioned public mural, City of Tea Tree Gully, South Australia
AWARDS
2026, Highly Commended, Youthscape Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of Arts, South Australia
2024, Judges’ Commendation for a High-Achieving Graduate, Adelaide Central School of Art, South Australia
2024, Highly Commended, Youthscape Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of Arts, South Australia
2020, Youth Arts and Culture Award, Tea Tree Gully Council, South Australia
GRANTS
2025, Graduate Support Kickstart Program Grant, Adelaide Central School of Art, South Australia
© NINA BARNDEN 2026