Today we reconnect with an artist we have long admired – Sydney based painter Leah Fraser. Inspired by ancient mythology, religious and cultural motifs, and the natural world, Leah’s latest works are more haunting and complex than ever. We adore her naive, intuitive painting style, and those intense layers of flora and fauna! SO spectacular.
I first met Sydney painter Leah Fraser way back in 2013, just weeks before her very first solo exhibition. She was newly represented, and somewhat wide-eyed about her emerging practice, but it was clear this young artist was heading for big things.
We’ve followed Leah’s career keenly over the past four years, and it’s been so wonderful watching her practice develop. There’s an unwavering consistency to her aesthetic – she’s always been very inspired by ancient mythology, religious and cultural motifs, and natural flora and fauna. Her most recent works, though, are more complex than ever – mythical gods and goddesses gaze stoically out at the viewer, among intense layers of foliage and a buzzing menagerie of colourful birds and animals – messengers from a spiritual world. These paintings conjure up a sort of magic realism; though populated with familiar species, Leah’s imagined scenes are unquestionably otherworldly.
Leah’s latest exhibition, entitled ‘Within You Without You’ opens next month at Arthouse Gallery in Sydney. Leah began working on the pieces for this show when she was pregnant last year, and found herself contemplating themes of new life, death and transformation.
Since the arrival of her sweet daughter Odette, Leah is more inspired than ever. ‘Every life experience becomes part of the emotional landscape of an artist, and having a child has really been one of the most profoundly transformative and beautiful experiences of my life’ she says.
