Stephania Windholz Leigh

Contact steph.freda.leigh@gmail.com

Stephania Windholz Leigh is a Jewish Australian artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, and sound. Her work explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the female form, challenging societal norms and uncovering new modes of resistance and transformation. By interrogating inherited memories, trauma, and cultural narratives, Windholz Leigh creates art that resonates with personal and collective histories.

In February 2023, she exhibited Aren’t You Gonna Eat Your Gefilte Fish? in Melbourne, a poignant exploration of assimilation and the challenges of preserving Jewish food traditions. This exhibition exemplified her commitment to examining cultural continuity and identity through a contemporary lens, utilising humour through titles and bright colours to draw viewers in, while hinting at a solemn sadness of disconnection from community and lineage.

Windholz Leigh’s previous works have similarly engaged with powerful and thought-provoking themes. In 2019, she was invited to exhibit Ich Piersi, Moje Piersi (Their Breasts, My Breasts) as part of FestivALT in Kraków, Poland. This work delved into the testimonials of women who experienced sexual violence during WWII, blending historical narrative with raw emotional depth. In 2021, she showcased her sculpture Partial Figure (BBYG) at Bayside Gallery, further emphasising her focus on the redefinition of the female form. Her 2022 participation in BOOBED at ACU University Gallery featured her sculpture and painting Woman, Chair & Plate, continuing her investigation into the intersections of body, space, and identity.