LEA ROSE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

I would like to acknowledge the ‘Boon Wurrung’ people as the traditional custodians of the land where my studio is located and the ‘Wotjobaluk’ Nations where my field research is conducted. I pay my deepest respects to their elders past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded. I acknowledge the traditional land use, management and agricultural methods of First Nations peoples. My artwork is focused on the ecological restoration from the impacts of colonisation. I respectfully acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continuing relationship and connection to the land, sea, sky and waterways.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Art Ecologist and environmentalist, Lea Rose (She/Her) is a Naarm (Melbourne) based disciplinary artist. Rose is passionate about environmental recovery and their work often aims to uncover the enduring ecological consequences of colonial legacies, on the Australian and International natural environment. Through the interplay of field research, academic inquiry and artistic works, Rose seeks to explore the devastation that colonisation has caused to the land through drastically modifying it, causing deforestation and the degradation of biodiversity.

Through the study of ecology and working closely with First Nations Peoples Rose integrates their multi-disciplinary art practice with scientific field research and is dedicated to deep listening and storytelling through their work. Rose acknowledges the land management and agricultural methods of first Nations peoples.

Rose has family history dating back to Australian colonisation. An Irish grandmother incarcerated for stealing embroidery cotton and ancestors, impoverished from Ireland, Scotland, Germany and England, lured to Australia’s unceded lands with the promise of a better life. As a young person, Rose was taught the skills, of their ancestors, sewing, weaving and stitching. Rose uses these textile skills along with the traditional forms of painting and printmaking to highlight recovery and resilience.

Rose ‘s work often speaks to the paradigm between the human condition and the world climate crisis. Colonisation, industrialisation and capitalism have created an addiction to consume natural resources, consequentially leading to a sense of despondency. Passionate about protecting the natural environment Rose creates immersive exhibition installations which transform physical space into a conduit for sensory engagement which compel audiences to contemplate their position within the continuum of the global climate emergency and environmental discourse.

*Pollinate,* oils and drypoint etching with sewn line and knitting on canvas 35cm x 35cm

*Flying Buttress,* oils and drypoint etching with sewn line on raw canvas 35cm x 35cm

*Zygote into Seed Bank,* oils and drypoint etching with sewn line on raw canvas 50cm x 50cm

BIOGRAPHY

Rose is a 2024 PhD candidate, studying at The University of Melbourne, (Geography and Indigenous Knowledge Institute) Faculty of Science, the first visual artist to be offered PhD as a cross discipline researcher. Rose completed their postgraduate studies in Visual Arts, VCA University of Melbourne 2023, receiving first class honours in contemporary art.

Rose is the founder of the art therapy program Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and international published author of ‘Finding Peace with Death and Dying in Everyday Life’. Rose’s occupational history led her to discover that art could be therapy, and the natural environment a place of healing and worth protecting. In 2019 after an extensive career as an art therapist, and international lecture on death and dying, Rose recommenced study at the University of Melbourne, with a focus on Art Ecology.

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

PhD candidate (Geography and Indigenous Knowledge Institute) Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne (2024-current)
Graduate Certificate of Visual Arts, VCA, University of Melbourne (2023)
Diploma in Anthroposophical Studies (Painting and Drawing)Rudolf Steiner Aust (2002)
Advanced Diploma Psychotherapy (Art Therapy) Persephone College Melbourne (1997)
Graduate Diploma of Education (Fine Arts) University of Melbourne (1993)
Bachelor Fine Arts (Painting) Victoria College Prahran – VCA University of Melbourne (1992)
Advanced Certificate in Art and Design (Fine Arts) Frankston College Tafe (1988)

ARTIST SOLO EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS

2024 Solo Exhibition Unveiling Echoes, Passage to Seeding Hope Fortyfivedownstairs Flinders Ln, Melbourne
2024 Solo Exhibition Seeding Hope Firestation Print Studio, Armadale, Melbourne
2024 Solo Exhibition (sponsored) Wilding the Silk Road Bukhara Uzbekistan
2024 Solo Exhibition (sponsored) Wilding the Silk Road Istanbul Turkey
2023 Sydney Contemporary Carriageworks Divine Wild Series Rep. Firestation Print Studio
2023 Solo Exhibition Rewilding Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2022 Solo Exhibition Rewilding Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2022 Solo Film Installation Rewilding Mallee Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2022 Performance Artist with Justene Williams Project 8 Gallery Collins St, Melbourne
2021 Solo Film Installation Culture Preserve Sea Lake Information Hub, Sea Lake, Mallee, Vic
2021 Solo Outdoor Installation Dressing the psyche University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melb
2021 Solo Expanded Field Art Installation Dressing the psyche Sea Lake, Mallee, Vic

GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS

2024 Winner Honourable Mention Artist Book Prize Firestation Print Studio Armadale
2023 Emerging Artist Award, Fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne
2023 Silent Irish, FiX VCA Performance collective, TCB Wilkinson St Brunswick, Melbourne
2023 Emerge Eleventh Edition, Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2023 Prop, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne
2023 Linden Postcard Show, Linden New Art, St Kilda, Melbourne
2023 Fifty Squared, Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2023 Ethical Wearable Art, Firestation Print Studio, Armadale, Melbourne
2022 Rewilding Flag Performance Artist, FiX, Bodies, Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery, Melb
2022 Ineffability Performance Artist VCA Graduation Show, University of Melbourne, Melb
2022 Small!, Fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Melbourne
2022 General Public, 99% Art Gallery, Nicolas Building, Swanston St, Melbourne
2022 Off the Wall, Firestation Print Studio, Armadale, Melbourne
2022 Escape, Firestation Print Studio, Armadale, Melbourne
2022 Fifty Squared, Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2022 Small Works, Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2022 Graduation Show, Art Space, VCA, University of Melbourne, Southbank, Melbourne
2022 Little Things, Geelong Art Space, Geelong, Victoria
2021 Home, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne
2021 It’s a Still Life, Geelong Art Space, Geelong, Victoria
2021 Fifty Squared, Brunswick St Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
2020 Off the Wall, Skymirror Photography Gallery, Sea Lake, Mallee, Victoria
2018 Are You Okay?, Short Film, Executive Producer, Casting Director, Art Department, Set Design, Assistant Location Manager, Winner of 18 international film awards, Melbourne
2016 Open House Exhibition, Kinross House, Toorak, Melbourne
2014 Let’s Talk About It! Finding Peace with Death and Dying in Everyday Life, International published book, Michelle Anderson publishing, Dewey Number: 155.937
2014 Go Fish, Actor, Short Film, with Shane Jacobson, Melbourne
2012 Frontier, Actor, Universal Studios, TV Movie, Director: Thomas Schlamme
2008-2002 Healsville Artist Collective, Director: Lesley Dickman, Warburton Arts Centre, Victoria
2001-1998 Teens Living with Cancer Curator The Gawler Foundation Yarra Junction Victoria
1997-1995 Curator, Royal Children’s Hospital art exhibitions, Parkville, Melbourne
1995 Founder of Royal Children’s Hospital Art Therapy Department, Parkville, Melbourne
1994 Feelings, Curator performance exhibition, Kyneton Secondary College, Victoria
1991 Prahran Painters, Graduation Show, Victoria College, Prahran, Melbourne
1991 Body Bits, Stare Gallery, Melbourne
1990 Prahran Painters, Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne
1990 Little Picture Show, Stare Gallery, Melbourne
1990 Artworks 11, South Melbourne town Hall, South Melbourne
1989 Prahran Painters, Works on Paper, Watermark Gallery, Melbourne
1989 Prahran Painters, Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne
1988 Graduation Exhibition, Frankston College of TAFE, Frankston, Victoria

ACHIEVEMENTS

International Published Author (book), Let’s Talk About It, Finding Peace with Death and Dying (2014)
Founder, Art Therapy Program, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (1995)

APPOINTMENTS

2022-Current, Board Member, Firestation Print Studio, Armadale, Melbourne
2023 Student Representative, Student Advisory Committee to Dr Simone Slee, University of Melbourne, VCA, Southbank, Melbourne
2023 Volunteer, Print Council of Australia, Southbank, Melbourne

GRANTS

2021 Grant Recipient, University of Melbourne (outdoor installation), Parkville Melbourne
2021 Grant Recipient, University of Melbourne, George Paton Gallery, Parkville Melbourne

PUBLICATIONS

BOOK

Lea Rose, Let’s Talk About It! Finding Peace with Death and Dying in Everyday Life, Melbourne, Michelle Anderson Publishing, 2014.
Acquired by Baillieu and Southbank Libraries University of Melbourne Dewey Number: 155.937

BOOK CHAPTERS

Lea Birch (Rose), The Healing Power of Art Therapy, Ed. Ian Gawler, Healing Spirit Mind and Body, 32-41, Victoria, The Gawler Foundation, 1998.
Lea Birch (Rose), Fortifying the Healing Process; Art Therapy for Children with Cancer, Ed. Ian Gawler, Science Passion and Healing; The Relationship between Mind, Immunity and Health, 37-45, Victoria, The Gawler Foundation, 1997.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Lea Rose, Rewilding Mycorrhizae, Prop Mag; Artists of the Victorian College of the Arts 3^rd edition, 2023, 6-7.
Lea Rose, You Take Me There You Pull Me Back, Prop Mag; Artists of the Victorian College of the Arts 2^nd edition, 2022, 5.
Lea Rose, Let’s Talk About It! Finding Peace with Death and Dying in Everyday Life; Book Extract, The Art of Healing Vol. 3 Issue 48, 2014, 48-49.
Lea Rose, Let’s Talk About It! Book Synopsis, Palliative Care Victoria Issue No. 102, 2014, 4.
Lea Birch (Rose), Heart to Art Therapy; Exploring the journey where art meets healing, Diversity; The Australian Complementary Health Association Issue No.18, 1999, 8-11.

REFEREED CONFERENCE PAPERS & PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH

Lea Rose, Critical Comparison of Home by Tony Albert and Born of the Land by Maree Clarke, Archived Research Paper by Director Julie McLaren, Gallery of Ballarat, 2021.
Lea Rose, Giving Children and Adults with a Life Threatening Illness a Voice Through Art Therapy; Demystify the Taboo of Death and Dying Through Counselling Education, The 4^th Asia Pacific Rim International Counselling Conference (APRICC) Wuhan University China, 6-8 November 2015.
Lea Rose, Revolutionising Quality Death for the Dying Person; Uniting Family Medical and Palliative Care Workers, The 10th International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society; Expanding Frontiers and Diversity, The University of Hong Kong, 11-14 June 2014.
Lea Rose, Together we can make a difference; Creating a Care Team for the Dying Person, Australian Grief and Bereavement Conference; Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice, 26-28 March 2014.
Lea Birch (Rose), The Health Connection: Embracing holistic health as a way for the future treatment of young people affected by cancer, Association for the Welfare of Children in Healthcare (AWCH) Conference Sydney, 7-8 October 1999.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SPEAKING APPOINTMENTS 2019-2014

State Library Victoria, Finding Peace with Death and Dying in Everyday Life, Lecture, Melbourne
RMIT Guest speaker Grief and the Environment, Melbourne
ABC Radio Interview, Life and Death, Tony Delroys’s Nightlife, Sydney
Triple J Radio Interview, Dating with a Terminal Illness, Melbourne
MPH Bookstore, Meet the Author and Lecture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Radio Southern FM, Grief and Death, with Christine Heart Savage, Melbourne
Radio Gippsland FM, Death and Dying, lecture series, Victoria
Kolkata Public Hospital Oncology, Death and Dying, Art Therapy, Kolkata, India
Association of Psychotherapists and Counsellors Singapore, Art Therapy, Singapore
Wuhan University, China, Key Speaker, Pacific Rim Psychotherapy, Art Therapy, Conference
University of Hong Kong, Key Speaker, Pacific Rim Psychotherapy, Art Therapy, Conference
Borneo, Malaysia, Key Speaker, Pacific Rim Psychotherapy, Art Therapy, Conference,
Royal Children’s Hospital Bioethics Conference, Art Therapy, Melbourne
Sydney Royal Children’s Hospital, Art Therapy, Sydney
Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond Libraries, public talks, Melbourne

COLLECTIONS

Private collections in Australia, UK, USA, Malaysia, India, Singapore, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland and First Nations Peoples Australia.