Leah Mariani

Leah Mariani, Melbourne, Victoria
@leahmarianiartspace
https://linktr.ee/LeahMariani

Leah Mariani is a Melbourne based artist making art about identity and relationships. She is deeply interested in people and what makes them behave the way they do. She is particularly interested in the way society and familial expectations mould us into gender conforming ways of behaviour. A lot of her work examines family relationship and gender roles. 

​In addition to being an artist, she is also a qualified account. She loves symmetry, balance, pattern and order, which is evident in her art practice. She has an extensive collection of patterned fabrics and paper which are often incorporated into the work via collage. While she is not loyal to any one medium but she primarily work in oil painting, printmaking and drawing.

After working in finance for many years, she returned to art in 2010, hosting her first solo show in 2012. Since then she has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious Australian awards, including the Marie Ellis Drawing Prize, Lethbridge 10,000, Hornsby Art Prize, Agendo and the Metro Art Prize. Last year she completed a Graduate Certificate of Visual Art at VCA. She works in her home studio, where she lives with her two boys and husband. 

Artist statement

Fairy tales and nursery rhymes have always interested Leah for what they tell us about gender roles. Historically the female protagonist was a passive participant in her own story, yet these traditional fairy tales remain popular with the current generation of young girls. In her latest series titled “Happily Ever After” the artist examine old fashioned storytelling, using both text and imagery, to highlight the often complex and contradictory lessons we teach our children.