Jennifer Leahy

Born 1975, Parramatta
Bachelor of Arts, Visual Arts
Graduation show: 1995
Graduation ceremony: 1996


Artworks in Space YZ

Galaxy Girl, 1995
Photograph on MDF board
155 x 80 cm
Collection: Liverpool City Council, purchased 1995. Courtesy of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

Ellen Lea - Screen Test, 1994
Single channel video with sound (Super 8)
2:26 mins

Ellen Lea - The Serenade, 1994
Photographic print
75 x 25 cm 

Photography enabled me the power of time travel like nothing else. Still image or moving, I could shift between times past and conjure unreal histories. The fictional film character I created, Ellen Lea, was the basis for experimentation through different mediums. Black and white film, hand colouring, large format printing, Super 8 film and VHS video. I could slip between styles and genre, exploring identity by weaving the image of myself to transcend the present.

My passion and continued interest in history and costume enabled these forms to materialise - from Silver Screen starlet to B-grade sci-fi super hero. For our second-year exhibition I brazenly contacted the legendary film historian Bill Collins to open the show in Space YZ and he graced us with his larger than life presence. What is striking, looking back on this early body of work, is that the images created are an actual record of my own personal history. From crafting an unreality, I have crafted an archive of the real.

The relics of university that I have boxed up in the attic are surprisingly few. A dog eared time capsule of incomplete records – the memories outweigh the imagery.

Old student cards, reproduction parking permits (carefully hand printed) and a small collection of happy snaps. Film was an expensive consumable as an art student and coveted for actual art making as opposed to today’s immediate and often frivolous digital imaging.

These days were pre-digital days... the dim red light of the darkroom, saturated with photographic chemicals, booking studios, lugging lighting equipment, creating into the night... and the slide tests... oh the slide tests!

During these early years of art making the camaraderie and time spent with fellow artists (both students and staff) was a fabulous melting pot of activity. Friendships forged during this time still hold strong. The experience of being involved in other’s projects gave me the confidence that the skills I was honing were valuable and that the work created was respected in the real world. It was about investing time... from being part of a small darkroom team, hand printing from glass plate negatives to spending hours refining hand coloured fibre based prints for exhibition. The time invested in so many of these endeavours forms part of the backbone of my technical experience and understanding of image making. It has allowed me the certainty and latitude to expand my career as a professional photographer creating images that document all forms of art.

But the most valuable thing evolving from this time at UWS Nepean is the extraordinary partnership I have with my collaborator in life Vincent Watson... yes, we really did meet in second-year at art school!