Leyla Stevens

ACCA is pleased to present a solo exhibition by acclaimed Australian‑Balinese artist Leyla Stevens that brings together new and past works that engage with storied places, archives, cultural geographies and performance lineages through a transcultural lens.

Through her work Stevens considers how culture moves between contexts, with inspiration and reflections often drawn from her lived experiences, observations and research. Moving from Sydney to Melbourne in late 2025, while continuing to visit and engage with familial and wider communities in Bali, Stevens’ practice is guided by collaborative engagements with place and community.

She works between and across documentary and speculative modes to engage with and foreground counter histories within dominant narratives. Grounded in a lens‑based practice, her work incorporates photography, moving image, performance and a growing integration of sculptural elements.

Leyla Stevens’ solo exhibition is presented concurrently with Inma Ungu by renowned Australian singer from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, Zaachariaha Fielding, making for a dynamic exhibition season of Australian solo exhibitions at ACCA. Curated by Dr Shelley McSpedden.

About the artist: Leyla Stevens (b. 1982, Cooroy, QLD) lives and works in Melbourne, Victoria, and Bali, Indonesia. She has exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, UQ Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre, West Space in Melbourne, Guangdong Times Museum and Seoul Museum of Art. Recent film commissions include PAHIT MANIS, Night Forest (2024); GROH GOH, Rehearsal for Rangda (2023); and Patiwangi, the death of fragrance (2021). She was awarded the 66th Blake Art Prize (2021) and holds a Doctor of Creative Arts from University of Technology Sydney.