by Lix North

Lix paints respirator-clad canaries navigating post-apocalyptic wastelands, which tells you most of what you need to know about her worldview.

Raised in the ‘80s in the stunning isolation of New Zealand’s hill country, she developed both a unique way of seeing the world and an uncommon comfort with her own company. A decade as a graphic artist and illustrator eventually led her to realise that constructing bleak dystopian landscapes for cute, vulnerable feathery avatars to explore was a vastly more satisfying salve for her existential anxiety.

Working at the collision point of surrealist vision and hyperrealist execution (because painting tiny feathers with tinier brushes is her idea of a good time), she whiles away as many hours dreaming up lore and world-building details for her tiny, vigilant protagonists as she does painting them. Each one a guide through the diaphanous remains of our myopic dreams, embodying the quiet courage that surfaces at calamity’s edge and the paradox that those with the least to give often sacrifice the most.

Lix resides in Australia with her music producer husband, the ghost of their much-loved bull terrier, and a small parliament of taxidermy canaries who have so far failed to warn her of any dangerous changes to her studio atmosphere.

Recent accolades include the Art Lovers Australia Prize, Clayton Utz People’s Choice Award, and finalist positions in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Portia Geach Memorial Award.

See more of Lix’s work at www.lixnorth.com (paintings) and www.lixcreative.com (graphic art/illustration/photography).