If you like art inspired by the beauty and wonder of the natural world and our connection with it, Sydney artist Leah Fraser should be on your radar. Though don’t expect to see any subdued, realist landscapes in the mix. Instead, her paintings and ceramics transport you into magical, otherworldly, jungle-like and celestial spaces inhabited by mystical and spiritually-charged figures. They're pieces of art Sydneysiders have become desperate to make centrepieces in their homes.
Fraser's latest show, The Thin Places, is showing at Arthouse Gallery through March, and she says it's a meditation on air. “Plants and stars meld to the body kaleidoscopically, skin tones shift and change to reflect their surrounds. Figures move through the air as if in an invisible slipstream, magnetically moving together in a flowing procession.” Everyone’s invited to have a squiz, a couple of glasses of bubbles, and an encounter with the artist at the free opening celebration on Thursday, March 7 (5-7pm).
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We’ve followed Fraser’s work since her first shows as a graduate of the College of Fine Arts, UNSW. Since then, she’s exhibited throughout Australia in many solo and group shows, worked in Mexico, been nominated for countless awards, been commissioned by private collectors, and collaborated with brands including interiors company Jardan, and clothing designers Sass and Bide and All That Remains.
It's far from easy to make a living as an artist in Sydney, but Fraser has done just that – by making a name for herself and developing a dedicated following. And although Fraser's technique, creativity, depth and scale have evolved over the past two decades, the artist's work has never strayed from an innate style that is truly hers.
The work is divine like the artist – Fraser is an ethereal beauty who glides through the gallery like one of her magical subjects. She’s a Sydney 'It girl' and trendsetter, but with a radiant yet gentle warmth and charisma that draws people to her.
If you want to discover more about the artist and her work, come on by to the opening on Thursday, March 7 (5-7pm), or swing by Arthouse Gallery any time up until March 30.
While you're there, you'll also be able to check out artist Lauren O’Connor's ’Two Moons’ exhibition (March 7-30).
The opening date is also held on 'First Thursdays' – an event held on the first Thursday of every month in McLachlan Avenue. The Rushcutters Precinct's First Thursdays is a cool art walk series, a collaboration between Arthouse Gallery along with .M Contemporary, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Cement Fondu and Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert. Take part to visit the five leading galleries in Rushcutters Bay all in one hit, from 5-7pm. Enjoy refreshments at each venue, browse each exhibition, and visit nearby Bar M or Marta for post-walk drinks. Find out more over here.
Love art? Here's a round-up of the best art on this month in Sydney.
