About
Julia Holden is an Aotearoa New Zealand artist based on Waiheke Island.
Holden redefines the boundaries of traditional painting by integrating it with performance, photography, audio, and film. A temporary relocation to post-earthquake Christchurch profoundly transformed her artistic focus toward socially engaged outcomes. She designs discrete, interconnected multi-disciplinary portrait projects that directly engage with diverse communities, valuing inclusive community collaborations that encourage public participation.
Holden has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and Australia, notably showcasing her Performance Paintings in public exhibition spaces such as City Gallery, Te Whare Toi, Wellington, and the Sarjeant Gallery, Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui. Holden enjoyed a year-long artist residency at Tylee Cottage, Whanganui, resulting in the expansive exhibition, ‘Her Indoors,’ marking 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, the first country in the world where women gained the right to vote. ‘Her Indoors’ was made with support from CreativeNZ Suffrage Fund.
Julia Holden gained BFA at Elam, School of Fine Arts, Auckland, New Zealand, and MFA by Research at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 2011. Holden’s work is included in numerous contemporary art awards in both countries, with works held in public and private collections.