Leonie Oakes Printmaker

I have always been an artist, but it took me a long time to own it.

My pathway to becoming an artist has been a journey where the destination is in sight, but the pathways meander in all directions. I have had many mentors, and enjoyed taking an academic path. My arts practice has evolved into an interdisciplinary practice engaging with sculptural forms, paper, fabric, metal, print, photography, and artists’ books.

My work employs strategies of deconstruction and reconstruction of books, photographs and text. My work often reveals a fragmented and broken narrative, giving glimpses of narrative rather than a full disclosure of an actual story.

I play, allow myself to wander, and get lost. It is the diversity and heart of community and environment that makes being an artist in Tasmania special for me. You can hide in the shadows and come out to play. It is large enough to be lost and in solitude, and surrounded in a familiar crowd of community. This polar aspect is echoed in the landscape for me. It a very special place to be doing what I love.