Mandy Ridley investigates pattern, colour and craft through her object-based artworks made for gallery exhibitions and major site-specific public art commissions. Her focus is an exploration of the relationships and connections between individuals to establish points of resonance between people of differing cultural experience. These ideas are explored through layers of contemporary experience grounded in historical research and material culture. Ridley was born in 1961 in Richmond, Victoria, and lives and works in Brisbane. She has a Master of Fine Arts from QUT, Brisbane (2000), Bachelor of Visual Arts from QUT, Brisbane (1994), and a Bachelor of Visual Communication from RMIT, Melbourne (1988).

Ridley is best known for her work in Australia’s public realm – its physical form realised in the painted pattern and colour that have transformed Ernest Street’s previously grungy concrete underpass as Flourish!, South Brisbane (2013), and Habitat (2013) on the Cabbage Tree Creek Bikeway in Aspley. Other works include Anonymous, the Northern Busway Heritage Interpretation Project in Herston, Brisbane (2009); Flow on Darwin City Waterfront, Darwin (2008); Jelly Penguin Walk for Gadens Lawyers, Brisbane (2008); and Nativitas, Mater Mothers’ Hospital Project, Brisbane (2006–8). Her approach is specifically developed for each site and opportunity. Her work has a variable look and mood which is also evident in a studio practice that traverses scale from intimate to monumental, across different media and styles. Most notably, Ridley’s practice is embedded in a cultural conversation with Asia (particularly India).

Ridley has undertaken significant research and residencies in India (2016, 2004), Spain, and Malaysia. Her studio work has also been seen in group and solo exhibitions in Australia and overseas since 1996. It is held in public and private collections in Australia and India.