︎

Caroline
Esbenshade

Artist

About 
    artist statement
    c.v.

Projects:
    Feminist Mythologies
        Danaë
        Odyssey in Neon
    Still life / material culture
        Repoussoir
        Are you still watching?
        Still life
    Portraits
       
Exhibitions:
  Things that shouldn’t last
  Repoussoir

Curator
Selected curatorial projects

Contact



I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the country on which I live and work and their connections to the land. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous peoples today.
©2026 Caroline Esbenshade
Caroline 
Esbenshade

c.v. 

[clink here to download full cv]
b. United States of America.
Lives and works in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

education:
2024: Master of Art Curatorship (First Class Honours), University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Vic, AU. [thesis]

2011: Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and School of Media Art & Design, James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Va, USA.

selected solo exhbitions:
2023     Things that shouldn’t last [solo show] - Brunswick Street Gallery. Fitzroy, Vic.

2019      Repoussoir [solo show] - Trocadero Art Space. Footscray, Melbourne, Vic.

selected group exhibitions:
2026     POLAROID POLAROID POLAROID - MARS Gallery. Melbourne, Vic. (upcoming)
               Shepparton Festival - La Trobe Campus. Shepparton, Vic.

2025     Hillvale Photo Trophy - Hillvale Photo. Brunswick, Vic.
               RIGHTS EQUALITY EMPOWERMENT - Beechworth Contemporary Art Space. Beechworth, Vic.

2024     Reality and its Double - Brunswick Street Gallery. Fitzroy, Vic.

2023     Imbolc - Louis Joel Gallery. Altona, Vic.

2022     Feast - Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Vic.
               The Salon des Wunder Gym - 2/10 Watton Street, Werribee, Vic.
           
2021      Wunder Gym: Make Some Noise - Station Place Laneway, Werribee, Vic.
               Linden Postcard Show 2021-22 - Linden New Art Gallery, St Kilda, Vic.

2020     Still Life - No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
               Tough Love - Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Vic.

2019     2019 ILFORD CCP Salon - Centre for Contemporary Photography, Fitzroy, Vic.
              All You Can Eat - Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Vic.   

2018     Australasia Now - Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Vic.

2017     RED | redux - Wyndham City Council, Werribee, Vic.
              Linden Postcard Show - Linden New Art, South Yarra, Vic.

awards and prizes:
50 Squared Art Prize 2023 [finalist] - Brunswick Street Gallery. Fitzroy, Vic.
Still Life Prize 2022 [finalist] - Tacit Gallery, Collingwood, Vic.
Kangaroo Valley Art Prize 2022 [finalist] - Kangaroo Valley, Nsw.
Little Things Art Prize 2022 [finalist] - Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington, Nsw.
Still Life Prize 2021 [finalist] - Tacit Gallery, Collingwood, Vic.
Agendo Art Prize 2019 [finalist] - David Williams Gallery, Canterbury, Vic.
Wyndham Art Prize 2017 [finalist] - Wyndham Art Gallery, Werribee, Vic.

residencies and grants:
Quick Response Grant from Regional Arts Australia and Regional Arts Victoria, 2022.
Community Strengthening Grant from Wyndham City Council, 2017.
Arts Incubator Grant from Wyndham City Council, 2017.
Arts Incubator Grant from Wyndham City Council, 2016.
Residency with Wyndham Art Spaces, Wyndham City Council, 2015-16.

selected curation:
The crafted image (Stories from the SAM Collection) - Shepparton Art Museum, from 2 May 2026.
Fran O’Neill: On The Move - Shepparton Art Museum, from 21 Mar - 9 Aug 2026.
Aleisa Miksad: Pareidolia - Shepparton Art Museum, from 21 Feb 2026.
Scroll, consume, repeat (Stories from the SAM Collection) - Shepparton Art Museum, from 19 Jan 2026.
Zen embedded in craft and clay (Stories from the SAM Collection) - Shepparton Art Musuem, from 2 Mar 2025.
Bare paper (Stories from the SAM Collection) - Shepparton Art Museum, from 21 Sep 2024.
Jen Valender: Field - Shepparton Art Museum, 3 Feb - 5 May 2024.
Ellen Lee: Landscape; of sight, of sound - Shepparton Art Museum, 21 Oct 2023 - 28 Jan 2024.  
Aleisa Miksad: Between Scylla and Charybdis | Amphora - Shepparton Art Museum, Dec 2022 - Feb 2023.
Ponch Hawkes: 500 Strong - Shepparton Art Museum, Sep - Nov 2022. PINK - Wyndham Art Gallery, Feb - Mar 2021.

selected writings, interviews, presentations, and videos:
“A wabi-sabi way through the bush” – MASS: Shepparton Art Museum Journal, Issue 1 (Feb 2025): 4 - 15.
“Where is here?” - Catalogue essay for Carmel Robertson: Wish you were here, Shepparton Art Museum, 2024-25.
“Mapping the land - moments of meditation,” Catalogue essay for Ellen Lee: Landscape; of sight, of sound, 2023-24.
“Aleisa Miksad - Ancient Forms Echoing,” Journal of Australian Ceramics, 62 no. 1 (April 2023): 77 - 81.
“Curator’s Note” and narration for the PINK exhibition online tour, Wyndham Art Gallery, 2021.
“Curiouser and curiouser: How objects we’ve collected reflect on us,” Catalogue essay for REVEAL, Wyndham Art Gallery, 2020.
Video production and interview with artist Alex Bay for Sawhill Gallery, 2011.

panels and committees:
Selection Panel member - Beechworth Biennale Selection Panel, Beechworth Biennale, 2025/26.
Peer Assessor - Creators Fund, Creative Victoria, 2025.
Selection Panel member - Euroa Art Trail Sculpture Panel, Strathbogie Shire, 2025.
Judge - Echuca Moama Arts Initiative ‘Nature Speaks’ Art Prize, 2024.
Peer Assessor - Creators Fund, Creative Victoria, 2023.
Peer Assessor - Creative Projects Fund, Creative Victoria, 2022.
Wyndham City’s Arts & Tourism Portfolio Committee, Wyndham City Council, 2017-18.

organisations:
Member, Regional Arts Victoria.
Member, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Member, Public Galleries Association of Victoria.
Member, National Association of Visual Artists.
Founder and President, RedWest Creative Co-op, 2017-19.

Caroline Esbenshade’s work is held in private collections in Australia, Italy, and the United States.