Meet the Artist
Noreen Jawad is a Brisbane-based visual artist working across two traditions — contemporary abstract painting, and the Pakistani truck art and block printing she grew up surrounded by.
The Studio Practice
Noreen came to painting in 2021 and holds a Diploma of Visual Arts from TAFE Queensland, alongside a Master's in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts from Pakistan.
Her abstract work responds to the Australian landscape — the greens of subtropical forest, the blues of the coastline, the ochres of the inland. She works across mediums and techniques, and in pottery, where texture and form pull the same colour instincts into three dimensions.
Her work has been exhibited at The Brisbane Gallery, the Incognito Art Show in Sydney in both 2023 and 2024, the Tower Art Show at Marist College, and Aspire Gallery in Ashgrove. In 2023 she received the TAFE CRE8 Exhibition Award.
Having lived in Pakistan, the UAE and now Australia, Noreen paints from a position between cultures. The abstract work is where that shows up as colour rather than subject.
Cultural Leadership
Noreen is Creative and Arts Director of the Pakistan Australia Cultural Association, where she leads cultural programs and artistic collaborations across Queensland.
She has exhibited cultural stalls at the FECCA Conference at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, World of Cultures at Kingston Butter Factory, the Empowering Migrant Expo at Brisbane City Hall — where she was a 2025 finalist for Creative and Artistic Excellence — and Pakistan Day at King George Square. At these events, the Governor-General of Australia, Queensland Premier, government ministers and multicultural leaders have visited her stall and seen Pakistani art firsthand. At World of Cultures she ran a pot painting and block printing workshop with visiting dignitaries, who sat down and made the work themselves.
Her community work is practical. She delivered an Urdu-language workshop with Settlement Services International helping Pakistani families navigate the NDIS. She ran an expressive art program for newly arrived Palestinian families, using creative storytelling to build a safe space. She has taught Pakistani truck art and block printing to 45 kindergarten teachers across three workshops, passing those techniques into Queensland classrooms.