Dr Leonie Ngahuia Mansbridge’s new body of work is all about the landscape as a signifier to identify. As a Māori woman artist, Leonie consciously positions herself on the fault-lines of culture, taking a cross-cultural and cross disciplinary approach to her practice. Leonie collects old gold gilt frames, a symbol of colonisation, power and money, and uses them to re-frame her story of space, place, to disrupt the colonial narratives alongside the indigenous voice. 

“Māori are connected to the land as soon as they are born, I identify to my mountain, waterway and land first before, I announce my name. ‘Western Art’ regards landscape as something a person looks upon, creating a distance between the viewer and the land. My perception of the land is one of moving within the land, the land is a part of me, I am not separate I am one with the land. The land is embodied with our founding ancestors. The works employ un-natural colour colours to embellish and exaggerate the landscape bringing a redemptive act to the land.”  

Dr Leonie Ngahuia Mansbridge

Ngāti Maniapoto

Born  Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand 

Leonie’s creative arts practice is key to her story-ing and she continues to engage with issues of identity and colonisation — her practice functions as both artwork and social document. Leonie has exhibited consistently for twenty years in Australia and overseas. She has received a number of awards, including Invited Artist to the Joondalup art awards. Leonie has been invited to exhibit in the Bangladesh Biennale 2021.

Leonie works in her home studio, where her recent abstract paintings seek to explore her identity; she uses the landscape to connect through her Māori heritage and to help educate awareness of the environment.  

Education: 2018, Leonie completed a Creative Doctorate, Masters of Arts (Visual Arts), with distinction 2010, and a Bachelor of Arts (Art) (Honours) First Class 2008, at Curtin University. 2014, 2018 Leonie presented papers at Indigenous conferences in New Zealand, Canada and Australia.