Karla Hayes is a Wollongong based multi-disciplinary artist living and working on Dharawal land. 

Across a range of mediums Karla creates whimsical artworks inspired by the diversity of Australian landscapes - from the lush subtropical rainforests of the Illawarra to the stubborn mangroves interrupting urban sprawl in Sydney’s Inner West wetlands. 

A childhood spent snorkelling and bushwalking developed her deep love of nature which informs her work today. After completing her Honours in Design in Visual Communications at UTS in 2019 she began forging a creative practice driven by a strong impulse to advocate for the biosphere through vibrant depictions of species. Combining the language of comic books and ecology she aims to spark appreciation and conservation of the natural world. 

Passionate about creating art in public spaces, Karla enjoys interrupting harsh, grey infrastructure with splashes of colour, encouraging thoughtful engagement with flora and fauna in her murals, illustrations, fine art, animations, live art and community art workshops.'

clients and collaborations

Audi, Bayside Council, Burwood Council, Chulo Creative, Concrete Skate Parks, Conservation Council ACT,  Coreen School, Crown Wollongong, Goodspace Gallery, Gringa Authentic Mexican Tacos, Holy Pavlova, Inner West Council, Ipswich City Council, Make Space Art Collective, Mosman Art Gallery, Mr Booch Gelato, Muralisto, Northern Beaches Council, NSW Ports, Open Art Cube, Project Contemporary Art Space, Randwick City Council, Scullin Community Group, Shellharbour City Council, Silver Sprayers Canberra, Society City Wollongong, The Gong Crawl, The Shy Postie, University of Wollongong, UOW Pulse Student Engagement, UTS, Wagga Wagga City Council, WAGEC, Wollongong City Council, Yours and Owls, 130 Art Studios.