Dr Donna Leslie
PhD (University of Melbourne) PGDip (University of Melbourne), Dip Ed (Melbourne College of Advanced Education) BA (Chisholm Institute of Technology) Foundation Year (Prahran College of Fine Art)
Donna Leslie curriculum vitae [
2.2 mb]
Biography
I am trained as an art historian. My writing is inspired by Australian Indigenous and contemporary art. I am also trained in art curatorship and teaching. My research interests are reflected in my Australian Research Council (ARC) projects: Sacred Ground: New Dimensions in Australian Art, and Spiritual Journeying and Cross-culturalism: The Art of Tim Johnson. My book Aboriginal Art: Creativity and Assimilation was published in 2008. In 2009, I was awarded the ‘Faculty of Art & Design Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher’ at Monash University.
I am a painter belonging to the Gamilaroi (Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi) people of north-western New South Wales. I have worked on exhibitions and creative projects for over twenty-five years. These have included commissions, residencies, designs, cartoons, and children’s book illustrations. In 1993, I won the ‘Crichton Award for Children’s Book Illustration’ for my paintings which illustrate Alitji in Dreamland: Alitjinya Ngura Tjukurmankuntjala (1992), a translation of Alice in Wonderland in an Aboriginal context. My book, Aboriginal Art includes reproductions of my recent paintings. I have held a number of solo exhibitions and have contributed to numerous group exhibitions throughout Australia. My paintings often reflect themes of life and nature, and this work helps shape my contribution to the research field I enjoy writing about.
Research interests
Aboriginal art and visual cultures
I specialise in Aboriginal Australian art and am always inspired by Aboriginal art and visual cultures, histories and heritage. The focus of my doctoral thesis was Aboriginal art, and my first authored book Aboriginal Art: Creativity and Assimilation (2008), developed out of my doctoral research.
Australian art
I am interested in our shared humanity and most art and creative expression everywhere. I am always interested in Australian art and the endless possibilities for research in this field. I enjoy the great diversity of cultural expression in Australian art.
Art and spirituality
I am interested in the relationship between art and spirituality in contemporary Australia. My current ARC project explores the work of a group of contemporary Australian artists whose art is inspired by sacred and cross-cultural influences. My former ARC research project focused on the work of Australian artist Tim Johnson.
Museums and Indigenous cultures
I am trained in Art Curatorial Studies. I am committed to contributing to a deeper shared understanding of Aboriginal visual cultures and histories in Australia and I remain very interested in the role of galleries and museums, particularly Indigenous collections and exhibition histories.
International art
I am trained to work with visual art everywhere, and I am interested in the art of all cultures. My conference paper at Crossing Cultures the 32nd International Congress in the History of Art organised by the International Committee of the History of Art (CIHA), is reflective of my current research.
Selected publications
- Leslie, D. (2010) ‘Respect, awareness, engagement: design for Australian Indigenous collections’, Chapter 10, Exhibition Design for Galleries and Museums: an insider’s view, Georgia Rouette, editor. Carlton South, Museums Australia (Victoria), 2010, Pages 85-95.
- Leslie, D. (2010) ‘Lin Onus: Picturing Histories, Speaking Politics’, in Artlink, Blak on Blak, Vol. 30, No. 1. Pages 28-33.
- Leslie, D. (2009) ‘Sacred Country: Ancient Footprints, New Pathways’, Anderson, J. editor Crossing Cultures: conflict, migration and convergence: the proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the History of Art. Carlton, Miegunyah Press. Pages 398-402.
- Leslie, D. (2009) ‘Painting the divine’, in Tim Johnson: Painting Ideas. South Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery. Pages 50-57.
- Leslie, D. (2008) Aboriginal Art: Creativity and Assimilation. South Yarra, Macmillan Art Publishing.