Artist's bio & ​RÉSUMÉ

Judi Lapsley Miller’s art is inspired by the wildlife and land of Aotearoa-New Zealand, the awesome forces that went into making them (and continue to make them), and the tensions between the pre-human and modern world. She strives through her art to advocate for endangered species and spaces by exploring themes like the tenacity of life in the face of environmental destruction, what it means to be endangered, and the post-human world. Many of her images are inspired from her experiences with volunteering in wildlife conservation projects, especially with her beloved endangered kākā parrots.
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Photography is just the first step in Judi’s creative process – she digitally blends and masks layers of photographs, graphics, scanned ephemera and textures, lighting and colour adjustments, and digital brushstrokes to form an image that is more painting than photograph. Photo artistry and digital compositing gives her the freedom to expand her viewpoint and delve deep into her imagination. She came to photo artistry by chance, having become frustrated with the limits and rigid rules of wildlife photography that precluded her from telling the intimate stories she could see unfolding around her. After attending a compositing workshop by Shona Jaray, she stumbled upon Sebastian Michael’s online photo-artistic training courses, and completed the year-long professional photo artistry training course “AWAKE” in 2016. She is currently in Michael’s advanced “KAIZEN” group, is an active member of the Artists Down Under – Australia & New Zealand group, and is a member artist of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. She is inspired by (and has done many online courses with) the imaginative and surrealist photo artists Julieanne Kost and Brooke Shaden.
​In her images, Judi exposes her interpretation of the inner world of others – their thoughts and feelings, their hopes and desires – in a form tangible to the human viewer that she hopes engenders empathy and understanding with other living creatures.
Judi and her photo artistic work has appeared in the Australian Photography magazine, the Independent Herald newspaper, Living the PhotoArtistic Life magazine (multiple issues), and Artists Down Under magazine (multiple issues). Over the last year, she has exhibited in seven group exhibitions and one solo exhibition in New Zealand. In the international arena, she has been awarded a Solo exhibition, and twice placed 2nd in the photography and digital media category and 4th and 5th in the overall category in Light Space & Time online gallery exhibitions. Her straight photography work is used widely for advocacy and education purposes, including for Zealandia EcoSanctuary, Forest & Bird, NZ Birds Online, Wellington City Council, the Ornithological Society of NZ, and other wildlife and conservation organizations. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Upcoming, Current and Recent Exhibitions

  • 1 – 4 June 2018: NZ Art Show, Wellington. Exhibiting six pieces.
  • 9 April - 21 May 2018: "Birds on a Wire" solo exhibition. Edges Art+Framing Gallery. Exhibiting nineteen works from Birds of a feather and Flights of fancy series (multiple sales).
  • 19 Dec 2017 - 13 Feb 2018: NZ Academy of Fine Arts Summer Exhibition. Exhibiting "It's about time" and "Abracadabra (kererū)". 
  • 27 Oct - 4 Nov 2017: Taranaki National Art Awards Exhibition, Opunake, Taranaki. Exhibiting "Emergence of flight".
  • 9 Sep – ​9 Oct 2017: Spring Exhibition. New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington. Exhibiting “All at sea” (sold) and “He came to me on the beat of a wing”.  
  • 1 Sep – 30 Sep 2017: Sanctuary Stories. Curator and designer, and contributing writer and photographer. Zealandia EcoSanctuary gallery, Wellington.
  • 29 Jul – 2 Sep 2017: Invercargill Licencing Trust Art Awards 2017. Southland Art Society, Invercargill. “Invasion Day” accepted for hanging.
  • 20 – 25 Jul 2017: Canvas 200 fundraiser. New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington. Exhibiting “What’s up (kererū)” and “Arise the rare and endangered Kāpiti Island kākāk phœnix” (images given as a donation to NZAFA).
  • 1 Jun – 1 Sep 2017: “Visions of Zealandia” solo exhibition. Zealandia EcoSanctuary gallery, Wellington. 11 works from three series: Birds of a feather, Flights of fancy, and Visions of Zealandia (multiple sales). (more...)​
Previous exhibitions...
  • 17 Jun – 16 Jul 2017: Winter Exhibition. New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington. Exhibiting “Adrift” (sold) and “Emergence of flight” (sold). 
  • 2 – 5 Jun 2017: NZ Art Show, Wellington. Exhibiting “All at sea” (sold), “He came to me on the beat of a wing” (sold), “Adrift” and “Emergence of flight”.
  • 29 Apr – 28 May 2017: Cleveland National Art Awards. Otago Art Society, Dunedin. Accepted for exhibition “Bursting out” (sold).
  • 23 – 25 Sep 2016: PSNZ Central Regional Salon. Kapiti Camera Club, Porirua. Open digital – ​acceptance “Pushing up daisies”.

Online Exhibitions

Gallery Stockists

Selected prints are available from the following galleries and stores:

Publicity

Bibliography - 2018

Bibliography - 2017

Bibliography - 2016
Bibliography - 2015

Competitions

  • 2016: Honourable mention in Galapagos photo competition. Photo published in 2017 calendar.
  • 2016: Supreme winner of the Spirit of Zealandia photography competition; winner “Birds” category, honorable mention for “Landscapes” category. Judged by National Geographic wildlife photographer Joel Sartore.
  • 2015: Won Public Address Tūrangiwaewae "A Place to Stand" Photo competition.
  • 2015: Whakatane Harbour Care Group "Birds A Plenty" photo competition Kākā Kura - Judge's Special Merit Award - Adult Creative Section
  • 2015: Winning image for Neighbourly, representing suburb of Ngaio.
  • 2014: Focus on Galapagos Photo Competition, second place for wildlife behaviour. Published two photos in 2015 Galapagos calendar.

Community Contributor

  • 2017-current: AWAKE photo-art community coach.
  • 2003-current: Zealandia online and social media, contributing writing and photography across multiple channels. From 2015, convener of the Sanctuary Storytellers volunteer group. 
  • ​NZ Birds Online contributor (kākā, red-footed booby).

Professional and other memberships

  • 2017-current: Artists Down Under – Australia and New Zealand
  • 2016-current: Member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (practicing artist)
  • 2003-current: Zealandia
  • 2003-current: Forest & Bird
  • 2010-current: Ornithological Society of New Zealand

Education

  • 1987-1999: BSc, BSc(Hons, 1st), PhD in Psychology from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand