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Artist Statement
Leyla Bulmer is an Irish/Australian artist creating on Boon Wurrung and Bunurong Country on the Mornington Peninsula. Her work is an ongoing exploration of expression, belonging, and the unseen threads that connect us - an ongoing inquiry into how creativity chooses to move through her.
Her practice moves between inner and outer worlds, the human and the more-than-human. She seeks to give shape to what cannot always be seen, inviting viewers into experiences that can be felt. Leyla creates body portraits as invitations to witness oneself as art, as nature.
Alongside painting, she works with beading, an easeful, meditative practice that brings her back to simplicity, rhythm, and presence. Her work is both personal and connective. She expresses this through fine art pieces, personal body portraits, beading, life drawing workshops, and collaborations with aligned brands and communities.
Theme: CURRENT
For CURRENT, I have worked with process as practice, seeking clarity through action and finding both breakdown and breakthrough in the making. This body of work emerged from sitting in the space between reality and delusion, where the line between this world and another dissolves. It is a liminal state where boundaries blur, the self is left behind, and a current - without edges or borders - runs through everything. In this shared space, land, sea, body, and consciousness meet and individuality gives way to connection. As I move through the landscapes of life, I explore points where experience, perception, and place intertwine and I find ease in a sense of belonging to the greater current that carries us all.
— Leyla Bulmer, Shoreham, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
