GERM

Studio Germ 🦠

Door Mouse Acrylic on Board 45 x 35 cm Self portrait. New self portrait study for the new year! I think this portrait captures my nature, my family have often described me as a quiet observer. I tend to pick up on the small things and catch moments that may have been missed otherwise. When I was younger my grandparents called me door mouse, I spoke quietly and hid behind my sisters. For a long time I didn’t like that I was introverted or shy. I was always jealous of my confident twin sister, who was loud and easy to get along with. It wasn’t until I started painting portraits of my family members and friends that I realised the way I see people and take in the small things was a superpower. It helped me tell a story. In this painting I am sitting on the floor in my painting overalls, just observing. I also included a sacred heart on my sleeve. This sacred heart is on a memory box my dad made and painted when I was little, these paintings I used to stare at as a kid in awe of his creativity. He is still the first person I send pictures of my paintings to, and I still get nervous to hear if he’ll like them! #brisbaneartist #brisbaneart #selfportrait #painting #portraitpainting

Thankyou so much for the support this year! Here’s a few highlights of 2025! I got to work on some amazing projects and special commissions this year! I’m so excited to share some of the things I’m still working on! I’ve learnt a lot this year in my art practice and am looking forward to seeing what I learn in 2026! Also have had the most amazing time @merivalestudios in the most beautiful studio with some of the most talented and kind people I know! Have a great new years everyone! Lots of love from GERM! Xx #brisbaneart #painting #art #brisbaneartist #acrylicpainting

I am absolutely in love with this animation of @docbrowncafe by local visual artist @__germ___ This is a snippet of the film's credit sequence (no spoilers) - instead of something conventional, GERM has wonderfully encapsulated the essence of the film and its central location with a gorgeously designed animation. It's particularly special given that the film and the cafe highlight other works done by them - keep an eye out for the graffiti art in both! You can find more of GERM's art and journey on their page, where their playful style and focus on themes of gender, nostalgia and mental health have created a number of striking pieces across different formats. #filmfestival #indiefilm #australianfilmindustry #filmmaking #animation

@merivalestudios ART MARKET TOMORROW!!!! Come say hey and check out everything these incredible artists have to show!!! I’ll be selling some prints, stickers and tshirts!! Come buy my stuff so I can buy things from the other artists!! Xx Insane poster artwork by @ohnosam !!!

Some super fun mixed media edits of the reference photoshoot with @evieruffs @paddyforrest_ !! Pt.1 Thanks @bellaspringer_ for your makeup skills @emilyxstephens for your incredible leaf blower work on set 🫡

From the reference shoot to the canvas prep to the finished painting and install! It’s all done! 😅 This was such a fun and wholesome project about queer intimacy and identity between best friends and I couldn’t be happier for how it turned out! Xx

Good Judys . Acrylic on Canvas . Debriefing with your best friend at the end of the party, going home makeup smeared and heavy eyed leaning on each other on the ride home. Playing dress up like kids, reading each other no holds barred only to build you up bigger and brighter than before. Finding a person who sees your strangeness, who reads your mind, who humbles you and hypes you up. That safe person that makes space for you to feel queer, feel sexy and feel seen. . Was so much fun working on this for @converge.bne sexy gay art show last night! A huge thankyou to Evie and Paddy for working on this project with me and to Bella and Emily for your help in bringing this idea to life! . Mwuah!! Xx GERM #acrylic #painting #brisbaneart #portraitpainting

Last night at @knock.softly show Sense and Nonsense @ventspace___ . A lot of things don’t make sense in the world right now, I think my brain tries to process everything when I go to sleep. Sometimes things are random, obscure and freakish. Other times it’s things that have come up during the day, or worries on my mind. I’ve had wonderfull dreams, dreams that leave me in soaked sheet panic, dreams which make me laugh and dreams that are burnt in the back of my brain. I find it fascinating that it all happens without any conscious effort, full immersive experiences visuals, sounds, feelings playing like a feature film behind closed eyelids. But what I find the most interesting is how they almost never make much sense. I loved how jumbled and chaotic they are, I love to recall what I’ve seen in my sleep. . I wanted to create something that referenced past dreams I’ve had, and replicated the same chaotic and complicated feeling I get when I’m dreaming. . ‘Wreckers’ Acrylic on canvas . ‘You Stole My Dream Journal’ Acrylic on canvas 122 x 86 cm . ‘Real big fish’ Acrylic on canvas . ‘I live you sporky’ Acrylic on canvas . Thankyou @knock.softly for this opportunity!! . And thankyou to everyone who added their dreams to the wall, absolutely made my night xx #acrylic #painting #art

ARTIST ANNOUNCEMENT: @__germ___ GERM explores the weird and wonderful with an intimate, nostalgic twist. Their work recalls retro sci-fi comics with bold shape and colour, drawing parallels with the modern horror of gender, identity, and pop culture. Bright, tongue-in-cheek, and imaginative, GERM captures the absurd blend of past, present and future. Art by @freej.freej.freej

THE HECKLER! . Acrylic on canvas . The Heckler is Briony. My Cousin. No-one is cooler than the Heckler. She’s badass, she’s defiant, she’s authentic, she’s home. I idolise the Heckler. Now even more so that she is the mother we both wish we had. Those kids don’t know what they got. . A revamp of a painting I did in 2023 which sadly got damaged in storage! . #painting #artwork #art #portrait #canvas #canvasartwork #artist #brisbaneart #punk

SLAMWICH Acrylic on Canvas . Friday night, pick us up I’m lemonade in a plastic cup We play cards, house always wins She’s automatic, knows the ending before it begins Foxtel tv guide, news at six Memorise the princess Soft hand keeping track The air coloured rosemary, An apron tied at your back Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Your house across the river The hard wood floors settle And the fruit bats chitter Will you quiet my worries? You shuffle I’ll fold It’s Friday night, you’ll pick us up Four little hands here for you to hold . Painting for my aunty remembering sleepovers at her house when we were little. X . #painting #art #artist #acrylic #nostalgia #brisbane #brisbaneartist #slamwich #portrait #artwork