Lesley is an artist and photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. Her personal projects explore the beauty in the everyday, capturing both people on the street and the urban landscape.
In addition, her mixed-media collage works are inspired by the abstraction on the urban walls. With a focus on composition, texture and typography, these works are highly influenced by her graphic design background.
STATEMENT
The city is my muse and I love peeling away layers to reveal remnants of the past and find fleeting moments that make up the present urban experience. These themes are explored through photography, collage and digital photo montage techniques, which are influenced by my graphic design background.
Drawing inspiration from the raw energy of our urban landscape, my photographic work explores the banality of everyday existence, and the overlooked details surrounding us. Capturing the interactions of people on the street, I strive to make emotional connections that remind us about observing the wonders in everyday experiences. There is also the intrigue of the effects of time - a torn street poster, peeling paint, old signs, and layers of graffiti - fragments that help tell urban stories.
I use my original photos to provide source material and inspiration for collage and photo montages. Mixing elements of type, textures and marks, layered compositions are created that highlight the juxtaposition of colour, form, and texture.
Through an intuitive process of construction and deconstruction, I aim to showcase metropolitan life through an abstract lens. Drawing on the unremarkable from our urban surrounds, the familiarity of the habitual and overlooked are what I desire to expose and re-purpose. Viewers are thus allowed to make their own interpretations.
Published work
Instaburb – 50 images of Australian Suburbia 2012
Place Magazine 2011 July Edition
Semi-Permanent Book 2011 – photograph from iCapture
Blanket Magazine 2011 December/January (Issue 25 – ‘The Celebration Issue’)
Blanket Magazine 2010 February/March (Issue 20 – ‘I Think I Can Fly’)
Creatives Behind the Lens book 2009 – Law Courts, Victoria Square
Design Graphics Magazine Issue 102 January 2004, Portfolio: Annual Showcase
Desktop Magazine Issue 178, ‘The Graduate’ February 2002
Honours
2013 ‘Mobile Photographer of the Month’ – Volume Magazine
2013 ‘Backyard’ – Mobile Photo Finalist, Head On Photography Festival
2012 ‘Instaburb’ – Australian Mobile Photography Finalist
2011 ‘Apple iPhoneography Exhibition’ – Finalist, Sydney Apple store
2010 ‘Lalla On Hutt SALA Art Prize’ – 3rd Prize
2010 ‘SALA Atkins Technicolour Photography Award’ Finalist
2009 ‘Corbis Creatives Behind the Lens’ Photography Finalist
Exhibitions
2018 SITHOM Street Photography (group exhibition) Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
2016 RAW Melbourne: 'TREND' (group exhibition) Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne
2015 'Urban Materiality' (group exhibition) Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2013 ‘Lost/Found/Reuse’ (group exhibition) Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2013 ‘Skrambled Eggs’ (group exhibition) Aspect Photographics Studio, Adelaide
2013 ‘Backyard’ (group exhibition) Head on Photography Festival,
2012 ‘Skrambled Eggs’ (group exhibition) Lightly Salted Studios, Adelaide
2012 ‘Instaburb’ (group exhibition) Dumbo Feather Headquarters, Melbourne
2011 ‘Urban Perspectives’ solo exhibition at JPE Design Studio, Adelaide
2011 ‘iPhoneography Exhibition’ (group exhibition), Apple Store, Sydney
2011 ‘Collagista!’ (group exhibition), Australian National Uni, Canberra
2011 ‘Urban Duality’ Fringe Exhibition, Sugar Nightclub, Adelaide
2011 ‘Photography 11A’ (group exhibition), Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2010 ‘iCapture’ SALA Exhibition, Mai Loui Boutique, Adelaide
2010 ‘Creatives Behind the Lens’ Exhibition, 1000 Pound Bend, Melbourne
2009 ‘Creatives Behind the Lens’ Winners Exhibition, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Sydney