Kay Abude is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne, Australia, whose expanded sculptural practice spans large-scale installation, photography, performance, video, and screen printing. Abude’s work is about work itself: the value of it, the effort, the inequality and insecurity of it, especially for artists.
​
Recent commissions include BE CREATIVE REMAIN RESILIENT, Mural Commission, The Showroom, London, UK, 2023–24, and Smoko Room, Paul Selzer Prize, Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery, Southbank, 2023.
​
Abude has been the recipient of numerous grants, including Creative Australia Project Grants in 2025 and 2023, Hume Arts Activity Grants in 2025 and 2022, a City of Melbourne Creative Laneways Project Grant in 2021, and a Play King Foundation Grant at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in 2020. Abude was a studio artist at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, from 2019 to 2022.
​
Kay Abude standing in front of her artwork WORK WORTH DOING exhibited on the façade of La Trobe Art Institute, Bendigo, Victoria.
Photo: Dr Kent Wilson (November 2020).
Kay Abude completed a Master of Fine Art (By research) at the Victorian College of the Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne in 2010. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, including Creative Australia Project Grants in 2025 and 2023, Hume Arts Activity Grants in 2025 and 2022, a City of Melbourne Creative Laneways Project Grant in 2021, and a Play King Foundation Grant at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in 2020. Abude was a studio artist at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, from 2019 to 2022.
​
Abude was the winner at the Victorian Premier's Design Awards for Best in Category for Fashion Design in 2023 for the collaboration between The Social Studio x Kay Abude x Alpha60 x Michelle Phan of Ugly Cute Collective.
​
Abude was nominated for the 2023 Paul Selzer Prize at the Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery, Southbank and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2014 Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture, Federation Square. She was the recipient of the Professional Development Award and Civic Choice Award in the 2014 Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture.
​
​
Contact:
​
Email: kayabude@gmail.com
​
​
Links:
​
​
​
​