Liam Ross Baker (b. 1998, Lutruwita/Tasmania) is a painter whose practice is rooted in observation, storytelling and the peculiarities of Australian life. Raised in the small Tasmanian fishing town of Dover, Baker’s work draws on the people, landscapes and rhythms of his surroundings, translating lived experience into paintings that are at once intimate, humorous and quietly unsettling.
Working predominantly in oil on canvas and board, Baker builds figurative scenes from observation and imagination. Thin washes and restrained passages of paint are punctuated by abrupt gestures and saturated colour. Through these small, unexpected details, his figures often appear caught in private moments, while elements of dry humour—party hats, face paint, unusual clothing—introduce a tension between the comic and the uncomfortable. Baker is fascinated by the ways people navigate vulnerability, particularly through the Australian instinct for humour and storytelling.
Baker completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the University of Tasmania in 2021. He has exhibited extensively in Australia, including two solo exhibitions with Boom Gallery, Geelong, and exhibitions at Despard Gallery, Hobart. In 2021 he was awarded a residency at the Henry Jones Art Hotel after receiving the Packing Room Prize as a finalist in the Henry Jones Art Prize. In 2023 he was awarded the People’s Choice at the Tidal Art Award. He has been recognised as a FORECAST artist by VAULT Magazine. Baker is now based in Naarm/Melbourne.
