Leslye Cole

Solo Exhibitions: 2019 Weswal Gallery, Tamworth, NSW

2016 Weswal Gallery, Tamworth, NSW

Awards: 2019 Finalist — Portia Geach Memorial Award, for Australian female portraitists, S H Ervin

Gallery, Sydney

2018 Packing Room Prize — Frost Over Barraba, NSW; Finalist — Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe, QLD;

Category Winner “Traditional” sec2on — Nundle Art Show, NSW

2016 Category Winner — Nundle Art Show, NSW; Category Winner — Currububula Art Show, NSW

2015 Pat Hill Memorial Prize — Nundle Art Show, NSW

2014 People’s Choice Award — Frost Over Barraba, NSW

2013 First Prize — Quirindi Show, NSW; Finalist — Inglis Equine Art Prize, Sydney and touring exhibition

2012 Finalist — Sir John Sulman Prize, The Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney; Category Winner — Nundle Art Show, NSW

2011 Finalist — Inglis Equine Art Prize, Newmarket, Sydney and touring exhibition

2008 People’s Choice — Amnesty International ARTicles Exhibition, NSW

2006 Semi-finalist, People’s Choice — Amnesty International Human Rights Exhibition, NSW

2017 Judge for the Nundle Art Show, NSW

2004 Residence, Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon Trust, Riversdale, Illaroo, NSW

My body of work is a narrative of contemporary country life in Australia: the people who live and work on the land going about their day-to-day activities and the individual animals I come across, set in the beauty of the Australian rural landscape.

I am especially interested in the interactions of humans with the animals they depend on, the trust that develops between them, and the extensive knowledge these people have of their environment and nature around them.

With admiration and curiosity I observe country life with city eyes, using a documentary approach similar to a photojournalist. Alongside this pastoral work, I return to my first artistic love of portraiture, fulfilling numerous commissions a year.