Leigh Tawharu

Leigh Tawharu (Ngati Raukawa, Cherokee Indian, German) is an experimental mixed media artist living in the rural mid North region of Kaeo, Northland, New Zealand. At a young age, with some help from Nana, she taught herself how to sew. Leigh has always had a passion for fabrics and retro clothing which led to a lifelong collection of textile beauties that now take up half her studio space! During 2018-19 she seized the opportunity to enrol in the Applied Arts Degree Programme at Whangarei’s North Tec, thus beginning a new journey for cloth and garment-based ideas to develop into 2D works on paper. Leigh’s work is an ongoing exploration of surface texture and pattern, combining drawing, stitch, paint, print and sewing. Heavily influenced by fashion as a constantly evolving movement and the alchemy of Mother Nature, her detailed works are often inspired from within the complex and layered intersection of the two.