Joshua Searle
Australian/Colombian
b.1998
Joshua Searle’s work involves an examination into socio-cultural issues, diasporic identity and existence. Primarily a painter and sculptor, he explores the diasporic position in contemporary societies founded upon migration and displacement in the Americas and Australia.
Art has enabled Searle to explore his Colombian heritage and identity which has brought an understanding of the strength that his culture can provide.
Major projects include Wall of Gold 2023, Stolen Gold 2023-2024 and Museo del Oro Robado (Museum of Stolen Gold), 2024. Exhibited in both public and commercial gallery spaces, these projects examine and unpack Pre-Columbian artefacts held in museum collections encountered through texts, as a means to further understand his own diasporic history and identity as an Australian-Colombian.
From an initial examination of collective cultural identity and societal impact to a more individual personal exploration, Searle’s work explores practices of institutional collecting and impacts of colonisation. He continues to undertake a process of reclamation of his own identity as part of the colonial diaspora, and of the works he references.
In 2023, Searle was a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Prize (AGNSW) and received several commissions with the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, including for the Archibald Prize Exhibition. In 2024, he was a finalist in the National Works on Paper Prize (MPRG). He has held twelve solo exhibitions nationally since 2021, including Relentless Optimism, North Gallery, Melbourne, 2024. Lost in Colour, & Gallery Australia, Sorrento, 2024. Notes from a journey home, Saint Cloche, Sydney, 2025.
Searle is the current recipient of the 2024 Mason Family Trust Fellowship, which supported his research in Colombia. This experience—examining Indigenous goldsmithing and sculptural practices—has informed Notes from a Journey Home, bringing a deeply personal dimension to his ongoing exploration of cultural reclamation.