Print and Mixed Media, and Watercolour are the main, overlapping, branches of Lenka’s art.
Throughout these works there is a unifying preoccupation with the physical environment. This includes land and water, town and country, natural and human spaces, and very often a reference to a changing environment over time.
Alluding to this sense of history, two features of the work have emerged: layers and translucency.
Watercolour lends itself readily to translucency and this comes to the fore particularly in those works where the subject matter is water, in both abstract and figurative images.
Layers are evident in the mixed media works which are built up in a similar way to the accretions of sedimentary rock or human detritus or remains of buildings in towns over the centuries. In this way the methods and media mirror the subject matter.
Lenka trained at Goldsmiths and the College of Fine Art, University of New South Wales. She also worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS until moving to Rye and fully immersing herself in art and writing. Both these reflect her concern for the environment.
Awards & Qualifications
Her work is held in a number of private collections and universities in the UK and Australia, and has been exhibited most recently at the Bankside and Mall Galleries.
Warringah Poster Prize
1991
Josef Lebovic Print Prize
1995
Alfred Altschuler Memorial Prize
Art Foundation, Goldsmiths
1984
1996
Fine Art BA, University of New South Wales
1995
Fine Art MA, University of New South Wales
1996
Exhibition History
Group
1989 Manly Daily Art Exhibition, Sydney
1990 Warringah Council Poster Prize
1992 North Sydney Art Prize
1993 Impressions Printmaking Exhibition, College of Fine Art, Sydney
1994 Digital Art Exhibition, College of Fine Art, Sydney
1995 See What I Hear, College of Fine Art, Sydney
1995 North Sydney Art Prize
1995 Union Art Prize, University of New South Wales
1995 In Tandem Printmaking Exhibition, College of Fine Art
1995 Protests in Art, Arthaus Gallery, Sydney
1995 Graduating Exhibition, College of Fine Art
1996 Selected Works, staff exhibition, College of Fine Art
1996 Union Art Prize, University of New South Wales
1996 Primrose Papermakers Exhibition, Sydney
1996 Arthouse Christmas Show, Arthaus Gallery, Sydney
1997 Landscapes and Woodlands of Surrey, Guildford House, UK
1997 Print Exchange Exhibition, Middlesex University, London
2002 London International Small Print Biennale, Morley College, London
2003 River, Guildford Institute, UK
2009 Christmas Show, SE1 Gallery, London
2010 British Pain Society Exhibition, Epsom Racecourse, UK
2011 Pick and Mix, Harvey Gallery, Guildford, UK
2012 Ochre Printmakers Exhibition, Guildford, UK
2017 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, Mall Gallery, London
2018 Horatio’s Garden Exhibition, National Army Museum, London
2018 RWS Contemporary Watercolour Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London
2019 Rye Society of Artists Summer Exhibition, Rye, UK
2021 Margins, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, UK
2022 Variations, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, UK
2023 Contrasts, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, UK
2023 On The Edge, Cromer Artspace, Norfolk, UK
2024 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, Mall Gallery, London
2024 Common Ground, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, UK
Solo
1995 Pools, Pavements and Parcels, North Sydney Olympic Pool
1996 Incandescence, North Sydney Olympic Pool
2003 Translucence, Guildford Institute, UK
2004 Lamellae, Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey, UK
2014 Prints and Watercolours, Royal Surrey County Hospital, UK
2023 All the Sound We Cannot Hear, Rye Creative Centre, UK