About
Lix paints respirator-clad canaries navigating post-apocalyptic wastelands, which tells you most of what you need to know about her worldview.
Raised in the '80s in the stunning isolation of New Zealand's hill country, she developed both a unique way of seeing the world and an uncommon comfort with her own company. A decade as a graphic artist and illustrator eventually led her to realise that constructing bleak dystopian landscapes for cute, vulnerable feathery avatars to explore was a vastly more satisfying salve for her existential anxiety.
Working at the collision point of surrealist vision and hyperrealist execution (because painting tiny feathers with tinier brushes is her idea of a good time), she whiles away as many hours dreaming up lore and world-building details for her tiny, vigilant protagonists as she does painting them. Each one a guide through the detritus of humanity's myopic dreams, epitomising the quiet courage that surfaces at calamity's edge and the paradox that those with the least to give often sacrifice the most.
Lix resides in Australia with her music producer husband, the ghost of their much-loved bull terrier, and a small parliament of taxidermy canaries who have so far failed to warn her of any dangerous changes to her studio atmosphere.
Recent accolades include the Art Lovers Australia Prize, the Clayton Utz People's Choice Award and finalist positions in the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize and Portia Geach Memorial Award. A graduate of NMIT's School of Visual Art, Lix was the youngest artist published in E.M. Caughey's book Art New Zealand Today (Saint Publishing, 2003).
Upcoming Exhibitions
2026
PASSPORT (Group) NGG, Petaluma, CA (USA)
Opening Reception: 17 April
2028
TERRA INFIRMA (Solo) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
Opening Reception: 4 March
Showing: 5 March - 26 March
Past Exhibitions
2026
ANTIPODES 2026 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
2025
AVES EX MACHINA (Solo) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
ANTIPODES 2025 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
2024
SMALL WORKS 2024 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
ANTIPODES 2024 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
RX (Group) Quirky Fox Gallery, Hawera (NZ)
2023
SECRET LONGINGS (Group) Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles (USA)
MINIATURES (Group) Quirky Fox Gallery, Hawera (NZ)
2022
PLASMA, PRIVILEGE AND PERFIDY (Solo) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (Aust)
INTERCONNECTED (Group) NERAM - New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale (AU)
2021
SMALL WORKS 2021 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
LUCID 2021 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
ANTIPODES 2021 (Group) Beinart Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
COLOUR POP (Group) Art Lovers Australia Gallery, Gold Coast (AU)
2018
PORTIA GEACH MEMORIAL AWARD (Group) S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney (AU)
LUX EX TENEBRIS (Solo) Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane (AU)
BLUETHUMB ART PRIZE (Group) Bluethumb HQ Gallery, Melbourne (AU)
2017
AFTER IMAGE (Group) Onespace Gallery, Brisbane (AU)
EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS, WEST OF THE SEA (Solo) Fish Lane Installation, Brisbane (AU)
2016
CLAYTON UTZ ART AWARD (Group) Clayton Utz, Eagle St, Brisbane (AU)
INSURGENT (Solo) Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane (AU)
Lethbridge 10,000 Prize (Group) Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane (AU)
2010
MORTIMER PORTRAIT PRIZE EXHIBITION (Group) Touring (AU)
REAL REFUSÉS (Group) Tap Gallery, Sydney (AU)
ARTS QUEENSLAND LIVE PROJECT (Group) Royal Brisbane Exhibition (AU)
2009
MINUS CANVAS III (Group) Juggler's Art Space, Brisbane (AU)
ARTS QUEENSLAND LIVE PROJECT (Group) Royal Brisbane Exhibition (AU)
2007
RELOADED (Group) The Refinery Gallery, Nelson (NZ)
2006
MITOCHONDRIA (Solo) The Art Factor Gallery, Nelson (NZ)
ART IN WINDOWS (Group) Nelson Arts Festival (NZ)
2005
Art of New Zealand (Group) Nayland College, Nelson (NZ)
LAUNCH (Group) The Art Factor Gallery, Nelson (NZ)
2003
SELF TITLED (Solo) Start Gallery, Wellington (NZ)
MID-WINTER EXHIBITION (Group) Start Gallery, Wellington (NZ)
NO RES (Group) Gallery 203, Nelson (NZ)
2002
DIGILLUSIONS (Solo) Silkwood Gallery, Nelson (NZ)
ARCANUM (Group) Silkwood Gallery, Nelson (AU)
2001
SOLILOQUY (Solo) Oedipus Rex Gallery, Auckland (NZ)
2000
SHOWCASE: NEW WORK (Group) Oedipus Rex Gallery, Auckland (NZ)
CONTRA (Group) The Metro, Nelson (NZ)
1999
CREME (Group) NMIT Graduate Exhibition, g_space Gallery, Nelson (NZ)
TELECOM ART AWARD (Group) Suter Gallery, Nelson, NZ
OLYMPIC EXHIBITION (Group) Capital E Gallery, Wellington (NZ)
Awards
2021
WINNER – Art Lovers Australia National Prize (AUST)
FINALIST – Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize (International)
2018
FINALIST – Portia Geach Memorial Award (AUST)
FINALIST – Bluethumb Art Prize (AUST)
2016
WINNER – Clayton Utz Art Award People's Choice (AUST)
WINNER – Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize Category Award (AUST)
2010
FINALIST – Mortimer Portrait Prize (AUST)
FINALIST – Aesthetica Art Prize (International)
1999
WINNER – Telecom New Zealand Art Award (NZ)