About Leanne Aroha Mulder

Leanne Aroha Mulder

Artist | Storyteller of the Land

I am a devoted admirer of green hills and drifting horizons — forever drawn to the mist-softened edges of mountains and the quiet rhythm of open land. My work is a gentle unfolding of memory, emotion, and deep listening — a visual language shaped by shifting skies, layered textures, and the soul of place.

Painting is not just a practice, it is how I remember. How I breathe. Using a blend of fluid watercolours, bold acrylics, and delicate ink, I create both large-scale canvases and smaller, intimate pieces that evoke stillness, movement, and presence. Each mark is a moment — a trace of light, a map of feeling — capturing fragments of earth and time.

My connection to the whenua (land) runs deep. I was raised on the outskirts of Ōtepoti Dunedin, often venturing into the wilderness with my father, a surveyor whose maps and memory of land live within me still. These early experiences, entwined with my Māori heritage, continue to shape the emotional landscape of my art. Subtle lines, topographic echoes, and symbolic gestures speak of places travelled — both physically and within.

Now living between Northland and Auckland, I share my life with my husband Tim and my two amazing children, Grace and Jacob. We are slowly restoring a piece of coastal land in Whangārei — planting, tending, and creating a life rooted in nature’s rhythm. My studio there is a place of grounding — a space where art and soil, silence and memory converge.

My paintings are for those who feel deeply. For those who know that beauty lives in the quiet. This is art that remembers. Art that breathes. Art for homes that listen.

Shows & Exhibitions 

2025 - Finalist National Contemporary Art Awards - 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