Dani McKenzie’s practice stems from an interest in the culture and history of vernacular photography as a private inventory, the ways in which we identify with such photographs, and how these processes of identification might be reassessed through contemporary painting. Whilst in previous years she has utilised images from the past as source material for paintings, McKenzie has recently taken a more documentarian approach, working from her own photographs and personal observations. Blurring a boundary between private and public, objective and personal, McKenzie’s paintings offer a unique glimpse into the lives of others; shared experiences of place within a community, and private moments that happen in public spaces.
McKenzie graduated from the MFA program at the National Art School, Sydney in 2016. Since that time, she has held several solo exhibitions in Australia including: ‘Close to Home,’ Olsen Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2022); ‘Nowhere Near,’ MARS Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (2021); ‘Recognising Strangers,’ Olsen Gallery (2020); ‘Visions,’ MARS Gallery (2019) and ‘Seeing Seeing,’ MARS Gallery (2018). She has participated in several group exhibitions including ‘National Art-Part One,’ a touring exhibition of prominent alumni from the National Art School over 50 years (2018-2021), the ‘Paddington Art Prize,’ Sydney (2021), the ‘Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize,’ Victoria (2021), the ‘Blacktown City Art Prize,’ Sydney (2020), and the ‘Muswellbrook Art Prize,’ New South Wales (2020). In 2019, McKenzie was awarded the ‘Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize’ in Melbourne, and in 2017 she undertook a residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
Dani McKenzie currently lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia.