Alanya van de Wiel
Artist Bio
Alanya van de Wiel is a Lake Macquarie-based artist whose practice explores ancestry, spirituality, folklore and the enduring relationship between people and the natural world. Drawing on her Polish and Dutch heritage, she creates works that weave together symbolism, memory and imagination, inviting viewers into spaces of wonder, reflection and cultural connection.
Influenced by the rich visual language of Polish folk traditions, particularly embroidery, paper-cutting and decorative mural painting, her work incorporates recurring motifs of plants, animals and ritual forms. These ancestral influences sit alongside inspiration from pioneering artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Hilma af Klint, whose explorations of nature, symbolism and the unseen continue to resonate within her practice.
Working primarily in acrylic on timber panels, murals and architectural surfaces, Alanya brings together fine art, illustration and public art approaches. With qualifications in Visual Art, Animation, Counselling and Art Therapy, her practice is informed by a longstanding interest in creativity as a vehicle for meaning-making, connection and personal transformation.
Alanya has exhibited widely throughout Australia and has been recognised as a finalist in numerous art prizes. Alongside her studio practice, she is the founder of the New Artists' Collective, a community of more than 200 artists across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Region.
Artist Statement
My work explores ancestry, spirituality, cultural belonging and our relationship with the living world. Drawing deeply on my Polish and Dutch heritage, I am interested in the ways stories, symbols and creative traditions are carried across generations, shaping both personal and collective identity.
A significant influence on my practice is the decorative mural painting tradition of rural Polish villages, where women transformed smoke-darkened walls with flowers and ornamental patterns. Created not for recognition but as expressions of care, beauty, cultural identity and community, these works continue to inform my understanding of art's role in everyday life.
Their existence prompts me to question contemporary distinctions between fine art and decorative art, and to consider who has historically been granted the authority to define artistic value. Many creative practices associated with women, including embroidery, ornamentation, floral imagery and domestic decoration, have often been overlooked within traditional art histories. Yet these forms frequently carry rich layers of symbolism, spirituality, folklore and cultural memory.
Through my work, I seek to reclaim and celebrate these visual languages. Flowers, for example, are often dismissed as decorative or feminine, yet they can also be medicinal, poisonous, transformative and sacred. Throughout history they have served as symbols of protection, fertility, death, renewal and the mysterious forces that connect human life to the natural world. In my paintings they become portals, storytellers and vessels of meaning.
At the heart of my practice is a belief that art is not separate from life. I am drawn to traditions in which creativity is woven into everyday existence, where making becomes an act of connection to place, ancestry, imagination and community. In an increasingly fast-paced and technologically driven world, I see art as a way of preserving wonder, fostering belonging and reconnecting us with the stories that help us understand who we are.
Conjuring Mokosh, 2026.
920×1510cm, acrylic on calico
Prizes
2025, LITTLE THINGS ART PRIZE, Finalist
2025, Mac Yapang Art Prize, Finalist
2023, Hunter Emerging Art Prize, Finalist
2022, Blackstone Gallery Art Prize, Finalist
Solo Exhibitions
2023 BIRDS, Good Brother, 40 King St Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2022 BIRDS, SMAC Space Studio, Tighes Hill, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2021 MOON, Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Exhibitions
2026, KAIROS, The Owens Collective, Newcastle, NSW, Australia 2026, ART FOR IMPACT, Hunter Research Medical Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, NEO NOEL, Neo Finance Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia 2025, SUMMER SALON, Straitjacket Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia 2025, ORNAMENT, Leda Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia 2025, PLAY GROUND, The Owens Collective, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, SILVER & COLD, Wester Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, BOTANICAL, Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, STILL SHE RISES, Pseudonym Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, SHADOW, Pseudonym Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2025, AZIMUTH, The Owens Collective, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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2024 ORNAMENT, Leda Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2024 AESTHETE, Leda Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2024, CASH, CARRY, CLAIM, The Creator Incubator, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2024 REVEAL, The Owens Collective, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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2023 REALM, The Owens Collective, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2023 Hunter Emerging Artist Prize Finalist, Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2023 The After, Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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2022 ASW Gallery Christmas Exhibition, Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2022 Newcastle Art Space, The Build Up, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2022 Newcastle Art Space, Flood, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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2021 Newcastle Art Space, This Is It: End of Year Exhibition, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2021 ASW Gallery Christmas Exhibition, Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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2020 ASW Gallery Christmas Exhibition, Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2020 Blue, Works on Paper Prize Finalist, Blackstone Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2020 Open Studio Exhibition, Private Solo Show at Artist’s Home Studio, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2020 Newcastle Emerging Artist Prize Finalist, Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
2020 Willful, Exhibiting as part of The Ateliers, The Showroom, Islington, Newcastle, NSW.
2020 Mistress, Blackstone Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Press
2021 Art/Edit, Art Mood Spread: Alanya van de Wiel
Education
Post Graduate Degree Counselling, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, 2017
Post Graduate Degree Art Therapy, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, 2008
Post Graduate Degree Animation, The Victorian College of The Arts (VCA), Melbourne, 2000
Certificate in Art and Design, The Northland School of Design, Melbourne, 1999
Arts Degree Major in Psychology, The University of Melbourne, 1998