About The Future Histories Project
Some elements of my life sit neatly in distinct boxes. My art, however, does not. Each work I make varies in medium, style, even concept. Yet it is all tied together by an underlying process called The Future Histories Project which involves responding to discarded and forgotten objects. The project entails visiting second-hand bookstores and searching for books where something was abandoned inside by the donor. To date I have unearthed 505 makeshift bookmarks left inside 369 books. The items I discover vary from photos, thank you notes and bank statements to honeymoon postcards, recipes, boarding passes and pressed flowers left inside novels, bibles, self-help books, biographies and more.
Relying on a combination of chance and structure, The Future Histories Project acts as an idea generating mechanism. Rather than viewing the value and meaning of each found book and item as fixed, their discovery is an opportunity for me to explore different materials, themes and concepts. Interrupting our tacit understanding of the assumed function of inanimate objects and challenging the boundaries of traditional dualisms (self/other, human/nonhuman), I seek to question whether these boundaries even exist. I wish to learn to sit comfortably with unknowns and embrace the endless potentialities to be discovered within this space. Attempting to give a voice to what society regards as valueless, I acknowledge that it is also my voice speaking thereby questioning where one voice ends and the other begins. Perhaps surrounding myself with what others see as lifeless is safer for me. Perhaps it is my way to communicate in a world I struggle to understand. In declaring that non-human things exist equally in the world I am also stating that the world is full of things that don’t fit neatly within the boundaries we demand of them.
About Leonie
Leonie Leivenzon (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her experience as a GP and hypnotherapist led her to reject dualisms imposed by Western society and medicine, such as the separation of mind and body. Leonie aims to strengthen connections between the diverse forces that make up existence thereby encouraging that existence to be more meaningful and less isolating. Leonie primarily uses discarded and second-hand materials as inspiration and in the making of her work as she believes that objects have stories to tell as well as being a way to reduce the environmental impact of her work.
CV
Education
2020- Bachelor of Fine Art at Monash University
Solo Exhibitions
2021- Memorial to a Fictional Life, Alternating Current Art Space, Melbourne, Australia
2019- The Mythic Poem, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2018- Distant Intimacy, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2017- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia
2016- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia
2016- The Adventures of Angela and Alfonso, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2015- Artist Open House, Melbourne, Australia
2015- 3 Days of Chaos, The Owl and Cat, Melbourne, Australia
Group Shows
2021- MADA Now, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
2019- Physical Absence: A Human Portrait, Missing Persons Space, Melbourne, Australia
2019- Collection: an imagining by emerging curators, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
2019- Broken Telephone, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2019- Milk Crate Show, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2018- Atlas of the unseen and unspoken, A Constructed World, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2018- Wall to Wall MADA Exhibition, Monash University, Melbourne Australia
2018- Milk Crate Show, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2016- Myths and Memory, Beth Hulme Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2015- 40x40 Art Exhibition, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2015- Figures and Faces, Beth Hulme Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2015- Wild Horses, Hogan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2015- Small Scale Art Exhibition, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Prizes
2015- Group One Finalist, Lethbridge 10,000 Small Scale Art Award, Brisbane, Australia
2021- Finalist, Northern Beaches Library Artist’s Book Award, Sydney, Australia
Residencies
2020- Artist Residency at No. 29, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
2021- (upcoming) The Tanks, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Grants and mentorships
2020- Monash MPavilion Student Art Grant
2020- Memo Review Emerging Art Critics Mentorship
Volunteer roles
2019- Director, Intermission Gallery, Melbourne, Australia