Marisa Ballinger Artist
Marisa Ballinger is a contemporary Australian artist based in Toowoomba, Queensland. Of Ngiyampaa/Scottish, Gamilaraay/Irish, and German heritage she explores identity through the lens of her cross-cultural background. Her practice intertwines personal experience and ancestral histories, exploring "the in-between"—a space that is neither fully one nor the other, but entirely new and authentic to her. Through her art, Marisa maps the stories that shape her sense of self, place, and belonging.
Grounded in the deep connection between artist, medium, and process, Marisa works across textiles, natural fibres, paper, string, copper, clay, acrylic, and ink. With weaving remaining central to her interdisciplinary practice, she blends traditional and contemporary methods to explore form, space, and light. References to memory, time, and place bring forward ancestral stories and her deep connection to Country. Her work reveals both the tangible and symbolic landscapes of what was, what is, and what is becoming.
Marisa has exhibited nationally, including in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and several regional Queensland galleries. Recognised for her textile work, Marisa received the Local Excellence Award at the University of Southern Queensland’s Biennial Art Exhibition in 2024. In 2025, she won the Macquarie Emerging Artist Prize and the Fairholme Open Art Prize. Additionally, she received a Highly Commended award in First Nations Art at the 2025 Queensland Regional Art Awards, with the work touring Queensland in 2026. Marisa held a major solo exhibition at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba in 2026, and her work is held in private collections throughout Australia.
