About
b. 1984, Boston
Carolin Leary Prinn's love for art emerged in childhood, inspired as much by the golden age illustrators and classical animation as she was by ancient art and the old masters. At the same time, she was penning her mythical world, The Islands of Niljora, that would become the rich narrative and symbolism behind her work.
She graduated with honours from The Savannah College of Art & Design with a full time scholarship and also studied classical art in Boston and Italy. Her professional career took off in her ancestral home of New Zealand, where she was a finalist for The Adam Portrait Award and selected for a national tour with The New Zealand Portrait Gallery. Alongside exhibiting, she engaged in projects in illustration, portraiture and created her own apparel design label with two fellow artists. Ever inspired by world culture and her life experiences, she travelled onwards.
Her artwork has featured in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and The International A.R.C. Salon and showcased in galleries in The United States, New Zealand and Europe. Her illustrated books were purchased for the permanent heritage collections of New Zealand's National and Otago University Libraries.
Photograph by A. Smailovic
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 work explores themes of light vs. dark, good vs. evil, hope and cautionary tales. They possess stories of heroes and 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."
• • •
"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
Exhibitions
2025 June, "Enchanted Fables", Curio Art Gallery (Portugal)
2025 "Art of Lore", Poetic Tiger Gallery, Boise, ID (U.S.A.)
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 The 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
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.)
Publication & Press
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Issues 49, 45
Poetic Tiger Gallery, Interview "The Mythical Art of Carolin Leary Prinn"
Beautiful Bizarre.net Article
International A.R.C. Salon Catalogue, 14
Dir. Skougaard, Denmark Museum of National History, Artist Talk, N.Z.P.G.
ZHIZHY, Artist Feature, Wellington, New Zealand
RadioActive FM, Artist Interview, New Zealand
Honours
2024 "The Polaris Collection" of The Lunar Codex w. Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
2024 "The Polaris Collection" of The Lunar Codex w. The International A.R.C. Salon
2021 Scholarship, The Florence Academy of Art
2019 Finalist, The 14th International A.R.C. Salon
2019 Finalist, The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
2018 Finalist, The Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
2016 Finalist, The Adam Portrait Award, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery
2014 Selected Artist, The Adam Portrait Award National Tour, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery
2014 Finalist, The Adam Portrait Award, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery
2010 Painting Residence, 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 Scholarship from San Francisco Academy of Art
2002 Honourable Mention, The National Scholastic Art Award, U.S.A.
Galleries & Stockists
Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A. - Artwork
Poetic Tiger Gallery, Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. - Artwork
Nucleus House, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. - Artwork
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. - Books
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
Education
B.F.A. Honours, Savannah College of Art & Design, U.S.A.
2019-2021 Classical Training, 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)
