Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 24 Leila Jeffreys

Leila Jeffreys is a distinguished contemporary artist renowned for her captivating photographs, moving image works, and installations that primarily feature birds.

Leila moved to Australia from PNG and pursued formal training in photography which helped her create her unique approach...to animal portraiture.

Her extraordinary photographs were loved by the public and she gained international recognition and featured alongside the world's most respected photographers as part of Civilisation: The Way We Live Now, a 2023 exhibition at London's Saatchi Gallery.

We talked about her early days as a photographer for Rolling Stone and how she never felt like she could get what she really wanted from the photos she took of people. And then a lightbulb moment when she followed her instincts and started photographing birds. But in a way no one had before – as portraits taken in studios.

The resulting photographs are breathtaking. She loved photographing birds of prey. They seemed to exude a confidence (even arrogance!) that comes with being at the top of the tree. Have a look at the last couple of photos in the insta carousel to see what she means.

Head to the link in my bio to have a listen.

Images:

1. LJ supplied by artist. Image by Cameron Bloom

2. Celery, 2019 Giclée print on archival fine art paper
112 x 89 cm Series: High Society

3. Redmond Red-Capped Robin, 2015 Giclée print on archival fine art paper
52 x 61 cm Series: Songbirds

4. Topper – burrowing owl. 2014, Giclée print on archival fine art paper

91x72

5. Banded Stilt egg, 2024 Giclée print on archival fine art paper
110 x 86 cm Series: Stillness

6. Red-head, 2022, Giclée print on archival fine art paper
110 x 71 cm140 x 90 cm Series: The wound is the place where the light enters

7. Burnt Branch, 2022, Giclée print on archival fine art paper
86 x 110 cm Series: The wound is the place where the light enters

8. Soren, Wedge-tailed Eagle 2014, fine art inkjet print on archival cotton rag paper
44 x 35 inches Series: Prey

9. Darcy Brown Falcon 2014, fine art inkjet print on archival cotton rag paper
44 x 35 inches Series: Prey

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 23 Yvette Coppersmith

Yvette Coppersmith stands as one of Australia's most distinctive contemporary artists.

Her career has been marked by a profound exploration of portraiture, identity, and the human condition. She has challenged traditional boundaries between painting and photography while examining themes of gender, representation, and psychological depth.

She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts and won the inaugural Metro Prize in 2003 and has previously been selected as a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize, Arthur Guy Memorial Award, Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award.

And, in 2018, after multiple Archibald finalist hangings, she became the 10th woman to win the Archibald Prize for her painting Self Portrait, after George Lambert.

It’s been said that her sophisticated exploration of portraiture has contributed to a renewed interest in this traditional genre. I can vouch for the fact that it has had that effect on me.

It was a fascinating discussion where we spoke about her amazing portrait of Gillian Triggs which (somehow) didn’t win the Archibald and, of course, her self-portrait the following year, which did! We talked about her fascinating process and how she creates these portraits that seem to me to go well beyond the surface image.

Her work is held in numerous public and private collections and she is represented in Australia by Sullivan + Strumpf.

Head to the link in my bio to hear this podcast conversation.

Images

1. YC. Supplied by artist. Taken at Hong Kong Art Basel, 'Heirloom' solo show

2. Yvette Coppersmith Self-portrait, after George Lambert (winner Archibald prize 2018) oil and acrylic on linen 132 x 112 cm

3. John Safran (Archibald finalist 2009) oil and acrylic on plywood 120 x 180 cm

4. Professor Gillian Triggs (Archibald finalist 2017) oil on linen 137.5 x 110 cm

5. Banded Field, 2022, Oil on jute, 99cm x 122cm, Finalist Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize

6. Self-portrait with Egret, 2018 Oil on linen 107 × 87 cm

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 22

Belinda Fox

Belinda stands as one of Australia's most accomplished contemporary multidisciplinary artists, whose work traverses the boundaries between printmaking, painting, ceramics, sculpture, drawing, and glass.

It's a lovely wide ranging discussion covering her career as a master printer collaborating with the likes of John Olsen and Tim Storrier and their generosity which is an integral part of who she is as well, her decision to change her career path from facilitating the vision of others' to developing and expressing your own artistic voice, her growing international presence and the incredible value of residencies both in Australia and overseas and how she got the best out of them.

Her journey is really quite a remarkable evolution from dedicated student to internationally recognized multidisciplinary artist.

Her career was built on technical mastery and thrives on collaborative experiences and an unwavering commitment to exploring the complexities of contemporary human existence.

She has received a number of awards including the Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Award, Paul Guest Drawing Prize and Burnie Print Prize and been a finalist in many other awards.

We are having this conversation in her fabulous Melbourne studio.

Belinda is represented by @arthousegallery and @australiangalleries and Maybaum Gallery, CA, USA. www.maybaumgallery.com (@maybaumgallery)

The images are a sneak preview of Belinda's upcoming exhibition, Tipping the Scales (her fifth solo exhibition with Maybaum Gallery in San Francisco). They presenting a new body of paintings that explores growth and the restorative energy of nature in a time of deep uncertainty. In a world marked by conflict, displacement, and environmental crisis, these works offer a quiet resistance—an intentional act of optimism. They seek to tip the scales toward compassion, healing, and a sense of renewal.

Created using layering of watercolour, ink, pen, collage, spray acrylic, and encaustic wax

Images 1-4: Pia Johnson; 5-8: Andrew Curtis