CCA Ulster University Graduate Support Award: Natalie Gibson

Natalie Gibson is the MFA recipient of the 2026 CCA Ulster University Graduate Support Award. The Award consists of the opportunity to use CCA's Project Space, stipend and mentoring with CCA Director Catherine Hemelryk.

About Natalie Gibson

Born in Castlewellan, Natalie Gibson is a painter, based in Belfast. Her practice experiments with playful colour palettes and drawing elements to explore ambiguous figures that are instinctively discovering, navigating and interacting with their version of the rural earth alongside the nature and animals that inhabit it for the first time with a curious and innocent intention. Her practice focused on the Irish landscape, mythology and Folk-tales from the country including shape-shifting and the search to find the perfect physical form, which is truly representative of self as a transmigration of souls.

Natalie graduated with First Class Honours in Fine Art from Belfast School of Art in 2022 and MFA in 2026. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions within Belfast and the UK. She was previously a member of the Emerging Artist Program at Flax Art Studio, Belfast (2022–2026). Most notably, Gibson was one of eleven emerging artists across the UK to be awarded The Freelands Painting Prize in 2022, representing Belfast School of Art alongside fifty Universities.
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