About Leanne Aroha Mulder
Artist | Storyteller of the Land
I am an award-winning contemporary abstract landscape artist whose work is guided by memory, emotion, and the quiet resonance of the natural world. In August 2025, my painting What the Land Remembers was awarded National Contemporary Art Award 2025 Runner Up, judged blind by esteemed curator Nigel Borell — an honour to receive.
I am forever drawn to green hills and drifting horizons, the mist-softened edges of mountains, and the rhythm of open land. My paintings are a gentle unfolding of memory and deep listening, shaped by shifting skies, layered textures, and the soul of place.
Painting is not just what I do — it is how I remember and how I breathe. Working with fluid watercolours, bold acrylics, and delicate ink, I create both large-scale canvases and smaller works that hold stillness, movement, and presence. Each mark is a trace of light, a map of feeling, a fragment of earth and time.
My connection to the whenua runs deep. I grew up on the outskirts of Ōtepoti Dunedin, often exploring wild landscapes with my family. Those early experiences, entwined with my Māori heritage, continue to shape the emotional landscape of my art.
Now living between Northland and Auckland with my husband Tim and our children, Grace and Jacob, I spend part of my time tending a piece of coastal land in Whangārei — restoring, planting, and building a life rooted in nature’s rhythm. My studio there is a place of grounding, where art, soil, silence, and memory converge.
My paintings are for those who feel deeply, who find beauty in the quiet and sometimes the bold.
Shows & Exhibitions
2025 - Runner Up National Contemporary Art Awards 2025 - Show Te Whare Taonga 1st August - 18th November 2025
2025 - Auckland Art Show - Viaduct Events Centre - 27th - 29th July 2025
2024 - Solo Show - Between the Mist - Next Door Gallery - Sept 7th - 5th Oct 2024
2023 - Oyster & Moon Matariki Exhibition - Waiheke Art Gallery - June/July 2023
2021 - Duo show - Belonging - Leanne Mulder & Geraldine Burns - Artpost Art Gallery - Chartwell gallery 11th Feb -15th 2021
2020 - Gather Collective - Pop up store - Devonport Auckland - 1st - 30th October 2020
2020 - Ladies a Plate - Group Exhibition - Next door Gallery - Sunday 18th October 2020
2019 - Feature Artist - Charity In the Vines - Art Auction - Turanga Creek Winery - 8th Nov 2019
2018 - Solo Show - Calliope Road Cafe, Auckland - 1st -30th August 2018
