Based in Wollongong NSW Australia, Wendi Leigh. She paints contemporary realism and utilises the benefit of gouache mediums to paint shapes and tones to suggest light and shadow without detail. Her subject matter creates new narratives about how humans and the environment relate to one another. In a primordial attempt on humanity’s part to understand and live in harmony with the beauty and wonder of creation, Wendi Leigh expresses this in objective imagery. “The inspiration that man can draw from nature is endless” she states, and her main body of work shows just some of the interactions that we have with the naturalistic side of our instincts. From one perspective, Wendi’s act of sharing her living space with intelligent birds like Magpies emanated from a general love since childhood, while from another, it may be theorized that her nurturing of animal companions, as if they were her pets, bolstered her love for fauna –and nature in general– by driving a very intimate connotation into all lifeforms she was exposed to. Her work also embodies the personal need to bring hope and joy to the viewer in an otherwise dysfunctional world. Wendi holds a BVA from Wollongong University and has been a working artist since 1989. Coming from a fashion and design background, her hard-edged contemporary take on realistic imagery stems from her passion for patternmaking, clothing design and joining shapes together. She currently exhibits in galleries throughout Australia and is a much sought after artist.
