Biography

Tegan Bailey is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and arts therapist based in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Her practice is a sophisticated layering of acrylic painting, printmaking, collage, and vintage textiles, driven by a process of reflective inquiry. Bailey interrogates the "internal architectures" of the female body—specifically regarding motherhood and childlessness—and the lived experience of navigating personal and professional transitions as an Autistic individual.

With a career spanning nearly two decades in education and the arts, Bailey brings a "dual-lens" approach to her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2007) and a Bachelor of Teaching (2009), and recently completed a Master of Therapeutic Arts Practice at the MIECAT Institute (2025). Her professional evolution includes 14 years as a Special Education and Visual Arts teacher, a background that deeply informs her current roles in disability support and therapeutic advocacy at The Art Factory.

Bailey’s exhibition record includes significant regional presence at The Curious Rabbit and Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, where she was selected for the 2024 Regional Artist Development (RAD) Program. This residency culminated in her first solo body of work, Rediscovering Self: The Layers of Late-Discovered Neurodiversity. She is currently preparing for her upcoming exhibition, Was/Wasn’t/Won’t Be, at Eastern Riverina Arts’ Ambo Gallery. Through her work, Bailey remains committed to reshaping contemporary dialogues around neurodiversity and bodily autonomy, using the creative process as a vital medium for societal change and human connection.