Leah Thiessen

Australian Women ArtistsThe podcastEp 79 Leah Thiessen  Leah Thiessen is a painter whose work is deeply shaped by place, memory, and the living energy of the landscape around her. Leah has spent close to two decades turning a very special place in Northern NSW into one of the most distinctive bodies of work in contemporary Australian painting. But she didn't start there. She began her creative life in fashion design, before retraining through a fine arts diploma, and, much later, a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Southern Cross University. In 2008 Leah left Sydney's Northern Beaches for the Northern Rivers region, and it was there that her real subject found her. Her practice is both intuitive and deeply observant. Working through mark-making, scraping back, and layers of paint, Leah builds surfaces that feel alive with movement and feeling. Her paintings seem to capture the spirit of a place.She's now represented by Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne, Despard Gallery in Hobart, and Lethbridge Gallery in Brisbane, with solo shows including Broadwater, Biome, and her most recent exhibition, Rustling Canopy. She's been twice named in the Top 100 Collectable Artists.‘The course of painting is a primal impulse to mark. It is a physical and emotional experience. I paint in an expressive and gestural way capturing the force and energy of a place. I create a visceral experience through the use of mark making and the application of paint. My paintings are process driven and it is only through the act of painting over, scraping back and drawing into, that my work is resolved.’ Head to the link in my bio to hear the episode or search Australian Women Artists wherever you get your podcasts. Leah is represented by @flinderslanegallery, @despardgallery, @lethbridgegallery Images of Leah's work to follow in the next post...