Landscape artist Carla Hananiah (nee Minogue) was born in August 1982 in rural New Zealand, the eldest of three sisters. In 1998, aged sixteen, she moved with her family to Sydney, Australia, where she completed the last two years of high school. Although most of her family returned to New Zealand in 2000, Carla and one sister chose to remain in Australia.
After high school she enrolled at the College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales, gaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2004. In 2008 she returned to her alma mater to enroll in a Masters of Art, majoring in painting and then a Masters of Fine Art by research. Her additional studies in painting reignited her passion for the medium and helped develop her style and technique, which she describes as semi-abstract, colourful and painterly.
During her studies Hananiah entered art competitions and group exhibitions, winning recognition and awards. She was a finalist for the National Tertiary Art Prize in November 2008, and in 2009 was a finalist in the Face of Compassion Art Prize, the Mosman Art Prize, the Lloyd Rees Art Prize, Live Life Villages Art Prize, and the Waverly Art Prize. In 2009 she also received the Second Runner Up Prize at the UNSW Arc Annual Exhibition at Kudos Gallery.
Her paintings explore the classical theme of the relationship between humans and nature. She seeks to convey a sense of 'overwhelming beauty’ from being 'in the land’, hoping her audience might question who created it. Her method involves pouring the oil paint onto preferably large-scale canvas or board, and allowing it to form a pattern, before then using the brush to complete the process. She believes this technique allows her colours to flow and intertwine in ways that suggest being 'in the land’. In addition to landscape painting, Hananiah explores other subject matter and employs media, such as photography, etching and drawing. Hananiah’s creative routine involves waking up early to walk and watch the sunrise. Later, in her studio she recalls these sensations.
In 2010 she held a solo exhibition, 'Sublime’, at Artereal in Rozelle, Sydney. The Macquarie Bank bought a work from this exhibition for their collection.
Hananiah, who supplements her art practice with work in the retail industry, lives in Sydney with her husband Isaac Hananiah (married 2005).
- Writers:
- Bonus, Leah
De Lorenzo, Catherine
- Date written:
- 2010
- Last updated:
- 2011
