Some elements of my life sit neatly in distinct boxes. My art, however, does not. Each work I make varies in medium, style, even concept. Yet it is all tied together by an underlying process called The Future Histories Project which involves responding to discarded and forgotten Objects. The project entails visiting second-hand bookstores and searching for books where something was abandoned inside by the donor. To date I have unearthed 505 makeshift bookmarks left inside 369 books. The Items I discover vary from photos, thank you notes and bank statements to honeymoon postcards, recipes, boarding passes and pressed flowers left inside novels, bibles, self-help books, biographies and more.

Relying on a combination of chance and structure, The Future Histories Project acts as an idea generating mechanism. It allows me to explore the nature of Objects, particularly found Objects, investigating the way meaning is applied to Things and how damaging and interfering with these Items changes the stories they tell. By both physically and metaphorically altering found Objects, I aim to generate a space in which meaning is not fixed, but rather full of potential, a space where the viewer can explore the possibilities of their own narrative identity as well as the Objects in the work.

Leonie is a multidisciplinary artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her background as a GP and hypnotherapist led to her interest in addressing dualisms which dominate Western thinking and exploring how we can learn to exist comfortably with unknowns. It is in these moments of ambiguity that we become open to the possibility of understanding, bridging the gaps between memory, experience, and belief.

CV

Education

2022- Bachelor of Fine Art, Honours, Monash University

2020- Bachelor of Fine Art, Monash University

2010- Diploma of Hypnotherapy, Academy of Hypnotic Science

2009- Certificate IV in Hypnotherapy, Academy of Hypnotic Science

1997- Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

1991- MBBS (Hons), Monash University

Solo Exhibitions

2023- Unremembered Histories, Linden New Art Project Space, Melbourne, Australia

2022- Seen/Unseen, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2021- Fragments of a Collective Identity, Tanks Art Centre, Cairns, Australia

2021- Memorial to a Fictional Life, Alternating Current Art Space, Melbourne, Australia

2019- The Mythic Poem, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2018- Distant Intimacy, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2017- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia

2016- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia

2016- The Adventures of Angela and Alfonso, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia

2015- 3 Days of Chaos, The Owl and Cat, Melbourne, Australia

Group Shows

2022- MADA Now, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

2020- MADA Now, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

2019- Physical Absence: A Human Portrait, Missing Persons Space, Melbourne, Australia

2019- Collection: an imagining by emerging curators, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

2019- Broken Telephone, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2019- Milk Crate Show, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2018- Atlas of the unseen and unspoken, A Constructed World, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

2018- Wall to Wall MADA Exhibition, Monash University, Melbourne Australia

2018- Milk Crate Show, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2016- Myths and Memory, Beth Hulme Gallery, Melbourne Australia

2015- 40x40 Art Exhibition, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015- Figures and Faces, Beth Hulme Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015- Wild Horses, Hogan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015- Small Scale Art Exhibition, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Prizes

2022- Finalist, Percival Portrait Painting Prize, Townsville, Australia

2021- Finalist, Northern Beaches Library Artist’s Book Award, Sydney, Australia

2015- Group One Finalist, Lethbridge 10,000 Small Scale Art Award, Brisbane, Australia

Residencies

2021- The Tanks, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

2020- Artist Residency at No. 29, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia

Grants and mentorships

2020- Monash MPavilion Student Art Grant

2020- Memo Review Emerging Art Critics Mentorship

Volunteer roles

2019- Director, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Acknowledgement of Country

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the place I call home from whom sovereignty has never been ceded. In particular I recognise Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country on which I work and live. I recognise their long standing and continuing connection to Country, waters and community and pay my respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge that I have lived my much of my life in ignorance of the rich culture and diversity of the peoples of the First Nations. While I continue to be ignorant of much of the great knowledge, understanding and spirituality of Indigenous peoples, I hope, with respect, to continue to learn and I give thanks for their willingness to help me learn. I wish also to acknowledge the great trauma and pain suffered by Indigenous peoples through the invasion of their lands and that my family and I have benefited as a result of this brutality. I humbly offer my personal apology and I hope that together and with mutual respect we can acknowledge and address the trauma brought on by colonisation and build a better future.