Artist Biography

Currently residing in Pretoria, Leanne Olivier (born 1986) completed her Bachelor of Technology in Fine Arts (cum laude) in 2012 at the Tshwane University of Technology. During 2014 and 2015 she was appointed as a part-time lecturer in drawing, art theory and gallery curator in the Department of Visual Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology.

In 2017, two of her paintings were selected for the Sanlam Portrait Awards 2017 - Theia was selected for the Top 40, and Ash and Salt made it to Top 100. Again in 2019, two paintings - The Two Zacas and For Sue and Marat - were selected for the Top 100 Sanlam Portrait Awards 2019. Olivier was a finalist for the New Sasol Signature’s Competition in 2008 and 2014. She won the Longstreet Art Lovers competition in 2014 as chosen by judges Diane Victor, Carl Jeppe and Loeritha Saayman.

Since 2016, she has been participating in various group exhibitions in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Solo exhibitions include Gedaanteverwisseling in 2016 at the Rust en Vrede Gallery, Cape Town; Intrinsic/Extrinsic in 2017 at the Jan Royce Gallery, Cape Town; Maskers at the 2018 Woordfees Festival, Cape Town; Tussen Stasies in 2019 at Trent Gallery, Pretoria; and The Medial Women in 2020.

"I am interested in the liminal / inbetween spaces of the human psyche and experience. I use ash, clay, earth, bones and plant materials as a vehicle to explore and reconnect with the essence of being; challenging ideas of normality: ‘The idea you have of yourself suffers from ideas it has about itself.’ Working mainly with oil paint, I try to highlight the interconnected relationship of dualities: human/animal, nature/science, irrational/rational, dream-state/consciousness and where these lines become blurred."