This work is based on the ‘Pixie Orchid’, a plant native to Australia. Having never experienced this plant in real life, Ariella Friend attempts to interpret it through a reality that exists for her as a collection of images on a computer screen. Through the process of zooming in and zooming out, the plant is reduced to a composition of pixels and colour blocks which are then interpreted by the artist into an expanded painting that resembles nature yet feels strangely unfamiliar.
Ariella Friend is a multidisciplinary artist working in an expanded field between painting, sculpture and installation. Friend’s practice investigates the relationships humans have with the natural world and the spaces that exist between the virtual and physical worlds.
Ariella Friend holds a Master of Art (Sculpture, Performance, Installation) with Excellence from UNSW Art & Design and a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) with Honours from UTS, Sydney.
Friend has been selected as a finalist in awards including: ‘Omnia Art Prize’ (2023), ‘North Sydney Art Prize‘ (Winner of the Works On/With Paper Prize) (2022, 2019), ‘Ravenswood Australian Womens’ Art Prize’ (2022, 2018), ‘Gosford Art Prize’, ‘Environmental Art & Design Prize’ (2023, 2022, 2021) and ‘Meroogal Womens’ Art Prize (2022, 2015), ‘Fisher’s Ghost Art Award’ (2021, 2018), ‘Little Things Art Prize’, ‘Greenway Art Prize’(2018), ‘Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Prize’, ‘Blacktown City Art Prize’ (2017) and ‘Chippendale New World Art Prize’ (2016).
Selected group exhibitions include, ‘Tree’, Climeart, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne, ‘Women and the Landscape’, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery (2021), ‘Plants’, Lion Gate Lodge, Botanical Gardens, Sydney (2020) and ‘Friends and Family’, Daine Singer, Melbourne (2019). Solo exhibitions include ‘Zoom In, Zoom Out‘, Woollahra Gallery At Redleaf, Sydney (2022) and ‘Not All Is Lost’, Airspace Projects, Sydney (2020).
Her work is held in the Macquarie Group Collection and private collections both nationally and
internationally.
