"Leary paints the landscape of mind and spirit...this is elegant work."
Gail Tressider - Art Reviewer



New Zealand artist Anna Leary creates paintings and mixed media artworks from her studio overlooking the Tasman Sea and Nelson's bustling port. She has undertaken her Bachelor's Degree in Visual Arts, has exhibited extensively and was awarded the inaugural Toss Woollaston Visual Arts Scholarship in 2000.



Anna creates her artwork in a variety of media retaining a flexibility that enables her to produce site-specific commissions or respond to a thematic show, whilst continuing to engage with a number of key ideas. Often moving beyond traditional perceptions of painting, she utilises found and shaped materials with combinations of oil, acrylic and mixed media.



Her iconic pod series initially involved a painterly response to the transition in atmospheric light and colour over a specific time period. Painting directly on to prepared supports at set intervals, the artist recorded the subtleties of the constantly shifting conditions. In this way, Anna uses time as a fundamental part of her process of making, and continues her discussion on our artificially constructed sense of time that is so contrary to the ongoing transition of the earth's natural rhythms. The development of this series and the distinctly Pacific motif has become synonymous with Leary's work.



"Anna Leary uses the artist's palette to chart the unceasing passage of time...In this respect, Leary is an archivist of time, recording in colour the complex interplay of light on land and sea..." Anna-Marie White. Curator. The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu

Anna undertakes a limited number of commission projects.

Toss Woollaston Visual Arts Scholarship 2000

Reflections Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, March 2011

Salon: Reflections Gallery Nelson, New Zealand, March 2010

Watch This Space: Reflections Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, December 2009

Belanger Commission: San Francisco, June 2009

Slattery Commission: Nelson, New Zealand, April 2009

Ferguson Commission: Light & life, Nelson, New Zealand, March 2009

Patterson-Green Commission: Time & tide, Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand, February 2009

Perrot/Reed Commission: Circular reference, Auckland, New Zealand, January 2009

Cowe/Bryant Commission: Oneone, Sydney, Australia, December 2008

Anna Leary: Rutherford, Nelson, New Zealand, December 2008

Stewart Commission: Four infinity, Nelson, New Zealand, November 2008

Walliser Commission: Tauranga, Marlborough, New Zealand, October 2008

Inch Commission: Aspects of being, Motueka, New Zealand, July 2008

Flanagan Commission: Anchor me, United States, June 2008

Leary Madden Clarke Holmewood: Leftbank Gallery, West Coast, New Zealand, March 2008

Texted: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, March 2008

Bronte Lodge Commission: Te Koi, Waimea, New Zealand, December 2007

Re:fine: The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson, New Zealand, December 2007

Patterson-Green Commission: Two tides, Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand, October 2007

Culturally Routed: Refinery Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, October 2007

Bown/Hyde Commission: Not quite centre, Nelson, New Zealand, September 2007

Collier/Sendall Commission: Thirty days hath September, Nelson, New Zealand, June 2007

Blackmore, Foster, Leary: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, March 2007

Reasons for Being: The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson, New Zealand, January 2007

Leary | Crawford: Reflections Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, November 2006

From Nelson: Statements Gallery, Napier, New Zealand, November 2006

Anna Leary at Woollaston Estates Gallery: Nelson, New Zealand, October 2006

Fine - Contemporary Nelson: Shed 11, Wellington, New Zealand, September 2006

Campbell Island Teal Exhibition: New Zealand House, London, United Kingdom, August 2006

Foster. Blackmore. Leary: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, June 2006

Vibert Commission: Rise 1, 2 & 3, Nelson, New Zealand, May 2006

Devine Commission: Like a river to the sea, Nelson, New Zealand, April 2006

Reflections Gallery: Nelson, New Zealand, December 2005

Best of...: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, November 2005

Nelson Rediscovered: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, October 2005

Fine - Contemporary Nelson: Shed 11 Wellington, New Zealand, September 2005

Te Moananui a Kiwa - The Pacific Ocean: Catchment Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, November 2004

Seven: Reflections Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, August 2004

Making Waves: The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson, New Zealand, June 2004

Woman's Work: Montana Winery, Gisborne, New Zealand, June 2004

Meridian Energy Plunket Art Show: Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, New Zealand, May 2004

Tauranga: The Bay House Gallery, Cape Foulwind, New Zealand, April 2004

Interface: Reflections Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, September 2003

Intangible: Gallery 33, Wanaka, New Zealand, April 2003

Emerge: The Suter te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson, New Zealand, November 2002

2/3 p: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2002

½ a°: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2001

Walk/Work Performance: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2001

Separate Realities: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2001

Drawcard: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2001

Quotation: Fish Bowl Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand, 2000

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, New Zealand, 2009

Villa Maria College, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2009

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, New Zealand, 2001

Bachelor of Visual Arts 2002

Bachelor of Commerce & Management 1995

Nelson Regional Guidebook: Art In It’s Own Place

New Zealand Food Wine & Art

New Zealand Artists Who’s Who

All material on this website is copyright to Anna Leary. The use of any copy/image/artwork must be agreed by the artist in writing prior to use.