Marisa Ballinger
Marisa Ballinger is a contemporary Australian artist based in Toowoomba, Queensland. A Ngiyampaa woman of Aboriginal, Scottish and German heritage, Marisa explores self-identity through the lens of her cross-cultural background, examining personal and cultural stories that shape her sense of self, place, and belonging. Interested in history and legacy, and deeply influenced by her Indigenous heritage, her work bridges tradition and innovation, weaving ancestral knowledge with contemporary experience. It speaks to the dynamics of living between worlds—neither fully one nor the other, but something entirely new and authentic to her own experience.
Marisa draws on memory, experience, and the nuances of daily life exploring themes of personal, cultural, and creative rediscovery. Using the inherent connection between artist, medium, and process, she works across textiles, natural fibres, paper string, copper, clay, acrylic, and ink. Weaving is central to her practice, both as her creative process and connection to her heritage. Marisa blends traditional and contemporary methods that explore form, space and light. Her work references memory, time, and place, revealing both real and symbolic landscapes of human experience.
Marisa has exhibited in galleries across Australia including Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Cairns, as well as at the Toowoomba Regional Gallery, the University of Southern Queensland, the Toowoomba Gallery and the Write Gallery. 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 was the winner of the Macquarie Emerging Artist Prize and the Fairholme Open Art Prize. Additonally, she received a Highly Commended award in First Nations Art at the 2025 Queensland Regional Art Awards, with the work part of an exhibition that is touring Queensland during 2026. Marisa's first major solo exhibition is at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba in June 2026.
Her work is held in private collections throughout Australia.
