J Davies (Ngāti Te Awhitu, Ngāti Hauā) is a multidisciplinary takatāpui artist respectfully doing mahi on the stolen lands of the Kulin Nation in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Through an ongoing archive of contemporary queer existence, J cultivates connection to community and culture while exploring themes of identity, intimacy, and neurodiversity.
With a deeply personal approach, J documents their own life behind closed doors, inviting audiences to consider how we view and value intimacy. Their work reflects a fluid relationship with time and memory—an experience shaped by their 2021 diagnosis of a processing disorder, which illuminated challenges in distinguishing dreams from reality. This exploration culminated in their 2022 book, Half of My Whole Life Was Just a Dream, a meditation on consciousness and recollection.
J’s work has been exhibited at Le Recontrés d’Arles (France), the Hong Kong International Photography Festival, National Gallery of Victoria, The Centre for Contemporary Photography and Photo 2024. They have been an artist in residence at Collingwood Yards and LCI Melbourne and a finalist for both the Bowness Photography Prize and the National Photographic Portrait Prize.
Solo Exhibitions
– Evolving, MARS Gallery, 2026
– Maybe Our Dreams Are Real, Hillvale Gallery, 2025
– Kin: An Ongoing Archive of Queer Resilience and Connection, The Victorian Pride Centre, 2025
– the future feels familiar, LCI Melbourne Gallery, 2024
– Weaving a Waiata, First Space at Sawtooth ARI, 2024
– Incase We Don’t Live Forever, PHOTO 2024, James Makin Gallery, 2024
– Home (Away From Home), Tomorrow Maybe for The Hong Kong International Photography Festival, 2023
– The Sentimentality of Something Unseen, Incinerator Gallery, 2023
– Whānau; The National Gallery of Victoria for Melbourne Now, 2023
– The Odyssey of the Body, The Origins of Touch, IC Contemporary for The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, 2023
– Half of My Whole Life Was Just a Dream, Woven Projects, 2022
Group Exhibitions
– On Country: Photography From Australia, Rencontres d’Arles, 2025
– Taking Up Space, Meat Market, 2025
– Kaleidoscope, Horsham Regional Gallery, 2025
– EMBODIED LANDSCAPES, ANZ Gallery, 2025
– Cruel Optimism, Tributary Projects, 2023
– In Motion, Room to Create Exhibition & Open Studios at Collingwood Yards
– People, Unassigned Gallery, 2023
– HARD, Wood Street Gallery by Christopher Boots, 2023
– I Admire, I Desire, Sol Gallery, 2023
– Off-Kilter, Group Sessions, 2022
– SMUT - The Second C*ming, The Rochey, 2022
– Pillow Talk, Abstract Gallery, 2022
– Regen Autonomy, Incinerator Gallery, 2022
– ko kori toku ingoa, Blak Dot Gallery, 2022
– Queering the Frame, Centre of Contemporary Photography New Photographers, James Makin Gallery, 2022
– Taking Up Space, Meat Market, 2022
– SMUT, Oigåll projects, 2021
– Residences, rituals, Woven Projects, 2021
– Intersection, IC Contemporary, 2021
– Yours Queerly, Sawtooth Gallery, 2021
– Significant (Others), C3 Artspace, 2019
Select Awards & Artist Residencies
– The Bowness Photography Prize, The Museum of Australian Photography, finalist, 2026
– The Bowness Photography Prize, The Museum of Australian Photography, finalist, 2025
– The Bowness Photography Prize, The Museum of Australian Photography, finalist, 2024
– The National Photographic Portrait Prize, The National Portrait Gallery, finalist, 2024
– LCI Artist in Residence, 2024
– WINNER of the World Centred Photography Practice Award from RMIT, 2022
– Bowness Art Prize, The Museum of Australian Photography, finalist, 2022
– Incinerator Art Award at Incinerator Gallery, finalist, 2022
– Yerba Magazine's Artist in Isolation Award, 2021
– Feminist's Photography Award, 2021
– Super Flat Lab’s Emerging Photographer Award, 2020
– Finalist for The Majlis Travel Scholarship, 2017
– Majlis Encouragement Award (VCA Graduate Show), 2017