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About

Niljora Logo Carolin Leary Prinn

Carolin Leary Prinn (b. 1984, Boston) has been painting, drawing and creating since she can remember. Her love for art emerged in childhood, inspired as much by the "golden age" of illustrators and classical animation as she was by ancient art and the old masters. At the same time, she was penning her story, The Islands of Niljora, a mythical world that would become the rich narrative and symbolism behind her work.

 

Carolin graduated with honours from The Savannah College of Art & Design and also studied in her hometown of Boston and Italy. She began her professional career in her ancestral home of New Zealand, where she was chosen for a national tour through The New Zealand Portrait Gallery and her illustrated books were purchased for New Zealand's National Library collections. Ever inspired by world culture and her life experiences, Carolin travelled onwards.

 

Her works have featured in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and The A.R.C. Salon Catalogue and showcased in galleries in New Zealand, Europe and The United States.

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Photograph  by A. Smailovi​c

Carolin Leary Prinn

Artist Statement

"I see my works as artefacts of my mythos, The Islands of Niljora.

This is the way I have explored the world we live in since I was a child, expressed in paintings, drawings and written stories. Parts myth, adventure and spiritual journey, The Islands of Niljora has evolved into a symbolic reflection on our universal human story. My works focus on themes of light vs. dark, good vs. evil, hope and cautionary tales. They possess stories of heroes and host deity-like observers, passing their quiet gazes over the patterns of the human world. My work weaves into a lifelong fascination with nature, the mystical and the mythological."​

 

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"From madness and nothingness came the creature Niljora."

Carolin Leary Prinn is a Fantastical Fine Artist, Painter, Illustrator & Author - art-of-carolin-prinn, symbolic art, surreal art, esoteric art, fantasy art, mystical art, spiritual art, beautiful bizarre artist directory, International ARC Salon, Adam Portraiture Award, Florence Academy of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, new contemporary artist, fantasy artist

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Education​

B.F.A. (Honours) in Painting, Savannah College of Art & Design, U.S.A.

2019 - 2021  The Florence Academy of Art, Italy

2017  Workshop, Per Olav Olsen & Melissa Franklin Sanchez, Florence Academy of Art, Italy

2008  White Cloud Workshop, Paul Tobin (WETA), New Zealand

Graduate courses in concept art (S.C.A.D.), Workshops (The Museum School & MassArt, Boston)

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Group Exhibitions​

2024  "P.S. 9th Annual Postcard Show", Nucleus House, Portland, OR (U.S.A.)

2024   "Enigmatic World of Owls", Poetic Tiger Gallery, Boise, ID (U.S.A.)

2024   "The Portrait Show 12: Myth", Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA (U.S.A.)

2023   The Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany)

2020   Student Exhibition Online, The Florence Academy of Art - Italy

2019   The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington (New Zealand)

2018   The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington (New Zealand)

2017   The Adam Portraiture Award Exhibition, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington (New Zealand)

2014-2016   Adam Portraiture Award National Tour, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery (New Zealand)​

2015   The New Zealand Art Show, TSB Arena, Wellington, New Zealand

2015   "Art4Vanuatu", Bartley + Company Art, Wellington, New Zealand

2015   "Exhibit One", 2 Eva Street, Wellington, New Zealand

 

Solo Exhibitions

2016   "Worlds", Deluxe, Wellington (New Zealand)

2014   "Entrance To The Secret Worlds", Deluxe, Wellington (New Zealand)

2013   "The Primordials", Deluxe, Wellington (New Zealand)​​​

2002   Honourable Mention, The National Scholastic Art Award, (U.S.A.​​​​)

 

Also in:

Isle Sur La Sorgue (France); Rue Tromphime (France); Berlin (Germany); Keri Keri (New Zealand), Savannah, GA (U.S.A.)​​

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Press​​​

2024  Issue 45, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine​

2024  Beautiful Bizarre.net Article 

2019  14th International A.R.C. Salon Catalogue

2017  Dir. Mette Skougaard, Denmark Museum of National History, Artist Talk, N.Z.P.G.

2015  ZHIZHY, Artist Feature, Wellington, New Zealand

2015  RadioActive FM, Artist Interview, New Zealand

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Honours

2024  "The Polaris Collection" of The Lunar Codex, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Issue 45

2021  Work-Study Scholarship, The Florence Academy of Art

2019  Finalist, The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts

2019  Finalist, The 14th International A.R.C. Salon

2018  Finalist, The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts

2016  Finalist, The Adam Portrait Award, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery

2014  Finalist, The Adam Portrait Award, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery

2014  The Adam Portrait Award National Tour, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery

2010  Painting Residency, The Savannah College of Art & Design, Lacoste, France

2007 - 2010  Dean's List, Savannah College of Art & Design, U.S.A.

2007 - 2010  Artistic Honours Scholarship, Savannah College of Art & Design

2006  Offered Artistic Scholarship from San Francisco Academy of Art

2002  Honourable Mention, The National Scholastic Art Award, U.S.A.

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Galleries/Stockists

Modern Eden Gallery

Poetic Tiger Gallery 

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Books​

2021  The Spirit of Shadows, A Collection of Tales from The Islands of Niljora, Carolin Leary Prinn

2015  The Primordials & Tales from The Islands of Niljora, Carolin Leary Prinn

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