‘Standing Place is inspired by the concept of tūrangawaewae. For me tūrangawaewae encompasses a sense of place, of where we come from, our sense of inner space and how we perceive through the lenses of our lives lived and how everything connects- the places that are important to us, the people that have shaped us, the ancestors that made choices to uproot and to put down roots. My place of growing up was in Piripai, a sand dune where the Whakatane river entered the sea. I spent holidays walking in Te Urewera, Whirinaki and Pureora. It is these forests that are in my dream scape, it is that wild force interwoven through the physical that I am particularly drawn to expressing in my art practice. I have lived on Waiheke for forty years, watching the regeneration of the forest here is a hopeful and beautiful testament to what is possible.  This exhibition brings the essence of both the forests of my childhood and the coastal forests of Waiheke Island and essence of place that is always there.

Through the process of printmaking, building the plate and the practise of an old craft, allows me time to slow down and express what lies underneath or behind the world as I see it. When I lift the paper after it has gone through the press, I am always moved, I feel like an adventurer, not knowing how the final print will be revealed with its purposeful and serendipitous marks...' - Leila Lees  

BOOK LAUNCH

Come along and celebrate the launch of Leila's new book Hekate on Thursday 5 December at 6pm - All Welcome!

'..Sharp, observant, gentle, metaphysical, heartbroken and healed. Here, the naturalist and the mystic go hand in hand. Leila Lees writes about nature with sensitivity and exactitude.

Hekate, the enigmatic Greek Goddess of magic, the moon, ghosts, medicine, and crossroads stands at the boundary between the divine and the human world. As the leading character crosses this threshold, the goddess, becomes a presence that reveals and mirrors different states of being, evolving through the dark and the light. Hekate is experimental essay-poetry that leads the reader on a Journey into the natural world, and into the essence of minerals, plants and animals.

Leila Lees is a writer and artist living on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. Her book Into the World, a book on shamanic and mystical practice was runner up for the 2019 Ashton Wylie Mind Body and Spirit book awards. She has illustrated three books with writer and poet Mike Johnson and is the author of Piripai a natural history as prose poetry and ferry crossing  a book of poetry...'

Leila held two workshops, and there will be another one in the New Year. 

Monoprint and Relief Printing 27 October

Woodcut Workshop 2,3 November