Allison Miles: Art from Gippsland

Allison Miles is an artist based in Gippsland, Victoria.

After developing an interest in art from an early age Allison is predominantly self-taught. One of her earliest memories of making art was sitting outside as a child, decorating bamboo sticks with dot-painted flowers. Through school and later life, art became a place of refuge, expression and return.

Allison lives with schizophrenia, and her art is closely connected to her mental health journey. For her, making art is a way to calm the mind, process difficult experiences and express what can be hard to put into words. Art offers a pathway through darkness, grief, hospitalisation, change and moments of psychosis. It also brings colour, meaning, freedom and light.

Meet Allison

I am an artist living and working in Gippsland, Victoria.

I developed an interest in art at an early age and I’m predominately self- taught.

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in my early 20s.

As an artist, I feel driven to express my inner world out.

Art is a way to calm my mind, and just be.

Sharing my art provides me with a way through my mental health journey.

Art enhances my life greatly.

It is a light, no matter how dark the days seem to be.

In 2025, I held my first solo exhibition, ‘Cat Tails’ at ARC Yinnar in Gippsland.

Also in 2025, I began working with my Arts Access Victoria Mentor, Betra Fraval.

Betra helped me to create ‘Boat And Cranes’ and ‘Girl With Cranes’ and to complete

an earlier work, ‘Celebration’.  These works were exhibited in the 2026 exhibition,

‘Embrace’ which is held at The Dax Centre in Parkville, Melbourne.

To date, I have produced three books, two calendars and a selection

of greeting cards featuring my original artworks. My greeting cards are currently

available at Town and Country Gallery Yarragon, Meeniyan Art Gallery and Mirboo

North ArtSpace.

An artist from Gippsland expressing her inner world through vibrant, heartfelt creations.

Style

Allison’s work often includes vivid colour, flowers, faces, symbolic imagery and expressive forms. Oil pastels, ink, pencils, pens and markers, and oil paints are just some of the mediums Allison loves to explore. Her work instinctively and emotionally, brings inner feeling onto the page through various studies in colour, texture and character creation.

Allison works on her art every day. Her practice often enters a flow state, where time falls away and the page becomes a safe space for thought, memory and image.

An artist from Gippsland expressing her inner world through vibrant, heartfelt creations.

Meet Allison Miles

In 2025, Allison held her first solo exhibition, Cat Tails, at ARC Yinnar in Gippsland. She also began working with Arts Access Victoria mentor Betra Fraval, who supported the development and completion of several works later exhibited in Embrace at The Dax Centre in Parkville, Melbourne, in 2026.

An artist from Gippsland expressing her inner world through vibrant, heartfelt creations.

My Work

Allison has also produced books, calendars and greeting cards featuring her original artworks. Her greeting cards have been available through selected galleries and art spaces in Gippsland.

At the heart of Allison’s practice is a simple but powerful truth: art enhances life. It is a way through, a place of freedom, and a light when the days feel dark.