Leahlani Johnson is a Sydney based artist whose current practice explores the paradoxical nature of time. Working site-specifically across the disciplines of ceramics, painting, installation, floristry, performance and the moving image, Leahlani’s work employs disparate materials to reveal opposing durational qualities of stillness, temporality and flux. Divergent concepts of time are further examined through the process of making the work and in the final form an exhibition may take, with labor intensive and site-specific interventions lasting only briefly and exhibition lengths becoming extended or condensed in size.
Since 2009 Leahlani has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Sydney, New Zealand and France. Recent solo exhibitions include However late it may seem 2017, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba and The certainty of this 2015, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Sydney. From 2012 – 2014 Leahlani undertook a residency at Parramatta Artist Studios. In 2015 she completed a Masters of Fine Arts (by Research) at UNSW Art & Design and a residency at the Moya Dyring Studio, Cite Internationale Des Arts in Paris with the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 2016 Leahlani worked alongside Astronomer Jordan Collier as part of the ‘House of Wonder’ studios project at Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest.
Studio portrait, Bundanon, 2017
CV
EDUCATION
2015 Master of Fine Arts (by Research), UNSW | Art & Design, Sydney
2012 Certificate II Floristry, TAFE, Sydney
2005 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), UNSW | Art & Design, Sydney
2002 Diploma of Fine Arts, Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 The Art of Flowers, Project Space, Cement Fondu, Sydney
2017 However late it may seem, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba
2015 The certainty of this, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Sydney
2015 Wait & See: Reimagining Time, ADspace UNSW | Art & Design, Sydney
2014 Forgetting what lies behind, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst
2014 Remaining still (in a world of gestures), Breezeblock, Sydney
2013 Passing Parades, Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney
2011 Concerning everything I know, Peloton Gallery, Sydney
2010 There’s something so nice about not knowing everything, Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, New Zealand
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 York Botanic Art Prize, Gallery 152, York WA
2018 Inaugural Library Arrangement, The Reading Room, Melbourne
Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Sydney
2017 Time Leaves its Mark, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Sydney
2016 House of Wonder, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Penrith
2015 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging), ARTSPACE, Sydney
2015 Facade, Artereal Gallery, Sydney
2015 Cementa Festival 2015, Kandos NSW
2014 Le pain quotidien, ParisCONCRET, Paris, France
2014 Glazed and Confused, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney
2014 Interregnum, Modern Art Projects (MAP), Kia Sulc House, Blue Mountains
2014 Meroogal Women’s Art Prize, Meroogal House, Nowra
2013 Tiny Stadiums Festival, PACT, Sydney
2013 Low Relief, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
2013 Collaborateurs, Artereal Gallery, Sydney
2013 Before it has ended, Free Fall, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
2012 Anything, Everything and One Other Thing (Parts 1 – 5), ALASKA Projects, Sydney
2012 Interstate Romance, Pseudo Space, Sydney
2011 Vent (10): From Abroad, Thermostat Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2010 SafARI, MOP Projects, Sydney
2010 Don’t Tell Nanna, Horus & Deloris, Sydney
2009 Southerly Buster, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Sydney
2009 HIDDEN: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk, Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney
2009 Shire Girls, Community Gallery, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Sydney
2008 BAZAAR, Terminus Projects, The Clare Hotel, Sydney
2007 Correspondence, The MCA Staff Show, At the Vanishing Point Gallery, Sydney
2006 Technobiography, Field Contemporary Art Space, Newcastle, New South Wales
2005 Imaging the Land, UNSW | Art & Design , Sydney
RESIDENCIES, AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, MASTER CLASSES & GRANTS
2017 Residency, Bundanon, Illaroo NSW
2016 Residency, House of Wonder, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Penrith
2016 Residency, Bogong Centre for Sound Culture, Bogong, Victoria
2015 Residency, AGNSW Moya Dyring Memorial Studio, Cite International des Arts, Paris
2014 Residency, Green House, Arc at UNSW | Art & Design, Fowlers Gap
2014 Finalist, Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
2014 Residency, Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta
2013 Recipient, Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), Australia
2013 Residency, Ceramic Design Studio with artist Lynda Draper, Gymea TAFE, Sydney
2013 Recipient, Art and Design Grant, Arc, UNSW | Art & Design
2013 Finalist, Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
2013 Finalist, Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney
2012 Residency, Hill End Artists in Residence Program, Murray’s Cottage, Hill End
2012 Finalist, Yen Toni & Guy Young Australian Art Award, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
2011 Recipient, The Marketing Grant for NSW Artists, NAVA
2011 Finalist, Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney
2010 Residency, Fraser Studios at Queen Street Studio, Sydney
2010 Residency, New Pacific Studio, Mount Bruce, New Zealand
2010 Master Class with artist Craig Walsh, Bundanon Trust with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Bundanon
2009 Finalist, Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney
2006 Finalist, Jenny Birt Award, Sydney
2005 Runner-up, Dinosaur Designs Award for a graduating student, COFA, Sydney
2004 Recipient, William Fletcher Foundation Grant, New South Wales
2002 Recipient, Thea Proctor Scholarship, Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney
COMMISSIONS
2016 New work, Runway Australian Experimental Art, Issue #30 (Ecologies), Sydney
2013 New work (site-specific), AIA Droga Architect in Residence Program, Sydney
2013 Illustrations & design, National Centre for Creative Learning donation box, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
2012 Illustrations & text, SKETCH Booklet – Marking Time Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
2010 New work, ARTCELL, Sydney