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Julia Holderness presents her solo exhibition Botanical Correspondents, developed for Rokowhiria Ashburton Art Gallery and exhibited earlier in 2026 as part of her Zonta Ashburton Women’s Art Awards Premier Award 2025.
In Botanical Correspondents, Holderness' research considers and responds to the work of Emily Harris, one of Aotearoa New Zealand's first professional woman artists. Emily Cumming Harris (1837-1925) is best-known for painting the indigenous flora of Aotearoa, producing hundreds of artworks in her studio in Whakatū Nelson. One hundred years after her death, her remarkable paintings continue to captivate audiences and invite them to contemplate the beauty of the natural world. In this exhibition Holderness responds creatively to her life, work and artistic practices.
The central component of the exhibition - a trio of installations - traces Holderness' working and the passage of time across the project - gathering, layering, and reconfiguring fragments of Emily's imagery alongside her own. Bush, Studio and Exhibitions act as a response and continuation: tracing a dialogue with Emily's botanical world and the multiplicity she employed in depicting plants and nature.
This exhibition was developed with support from Rokowhiria Ashburton Art Gallery.Julia Holderness lives and works in Ōtautahi Christchurch. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury (2002) and an Honours in Visual Arts at AUT University, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (2015). In 2022 Holderness completed a Visual Arts PhD in practice-led research at AUT University. Her thesis titled "Ever Present Archiving: methodologies for art histories through invention, fabrication and social practice" explores archives and their construction of art-historical narratives.
Julia Holderness was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Doctoral Scholarship and won the Glaister Ennor Graduate Art Award in 2016. Other projects include her PhD exhibition Schemes for Vibrant Living at Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery, AUT, The Studio, which was developed for Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 2021, Florence & Florence: Other Textile Histories presented at Ilam Campus Gallery in 2018 and Gallery 91 for SCAPE Public Art in 2017.
In 2024 Julia Holderness was included in the exhibition Modern Women: Flight of Time at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Curated by Julia Waite this landmark exhibition highlighted the leading role women artists have played in shaping the development of modern art in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Julia HoldernessEmily’s screen (bi fold), 2025Print on linen, timberEach panel 1700 mm x 620 mm$ 2,850.00 -
Julia HoldernessEmily’s screen (bi-fold) - alternate view, 2025Print on linen, timberEach panel 1700 mm x 620 mm$ 2,850.00
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Julia HoldernessKiekie, nikau & five finger, 2025Watercolour & gouache on colourfix paper520 mm x 620 mm framed$ 3,450.00
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Julia HoldernessCordyline Banksii, 2025Watercolour & gouache on colourfix paper520 mm x 620 mm framed
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Julia HoldernessGarden/Bush, Nile Street East, 2025Watercolour & gouache on colourfix paper360 mm x 425 mm framed$ 2,950.00
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Julia HoldernessNocturnal Bush Scene, 2026Watercolour & Gouache on colourfix paper375 x 450mm framed$ 2,950.00
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Julia HoldernessMīkoikoi (Libertia) & Kiekie, 2025Watercolour & gouache on colourfix paper490 mm x 400 mm$ 3,050.00
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Julia HoldernessKaraka berries study - cameo, 2026Watercolour on mat board330 mm x 250 mm framed
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Julia HoldernessMānuka - cameo, 2025Watercolour on mat board330 mm x 250 mm framed$ 1,750.00
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Julia HoldernessCampbell Island Flowers - cameo, 2026Watercolour on mat board330 mm x 250 mm framed$ 2,250.00
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Julia HoldernessSub-Antarctic Daisy - cameo, 2025Print on watercolour paper355 mm x 275 mm framed, edition of 3$ 1,300.00
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Julia HoldernessJug (kiekie), 2026Glazed stoneware190 mm H$ 1,375.00
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Julia HoldernessVase (mixed specimens), 2026Glazed stoneware160 mm H$ 1,225.00
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Julia HoldernessVase (taupata & akeake), 2026Glazed stoneware190 mm H$ 1,375.00
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Julia HoldernessPlate (Pleurophyllum speciosa), 2026Glazed stoneware210 mm D$ 720.00
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Julia HoldernessPleurophyllum Speciosum, 2026Watercolour & gouache on canvas450 x 290 mm$ 2,250.00
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Julia HoldernessKowhai table screen, 2025print on linen, timberEach panel 510 mm x 150mm
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Julia HoldernessTi Ngahere table screen, 2026Vintage frame, printed linen and watercolour, three panelsEach panel 400 x 140 mm$ 950.00
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Julia HoldernessKiekie et al table screen, 2026Vintage frame, printed linen and watercolour, two panelsEach panel 440 x 155 mm$ 850.00
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Julia HoldernessCordyline Banksii, 2025Print on canvas paper350 x 280 mm including 70 mm matt board, edition of 3$ 1,150.00
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Julia HoldernessVeronica design for mantel drape, 2025Print on linen400 mm x 350 mm framed, edition of 3$ 1,250.00
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Julia HoldernessKowhai, 2026Print on linen250 x 200 mm, edition of 3$ 575.00
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Julia HoldernessFern study, 2025Mixed media (printmaking & watercolour)350 mm x 490 mm framed$ 1,950.00
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Julia HoldernessHebe: Veronica study, 2025Mixed media (printmaking & watercolour)350 mm x 460 mm framed$ 1,950.00
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Julia HoldernessFan (KieKie), 2025Print on linen390 mm x 520 mm framed, edition of 3$ 1,650.00
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Julia HoldernessFan (Cordyline Australis), 2025Print on linen390 mm x 530 mm framed, edition of 3$ 1,650.00
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Julia HoldernessKiekie study, 2025Watercolour410 mm x 320 mm unframed$ 1,150.00
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Julia HoldernessTī Kouka in glass jug, a gifted specimen, 2025Watercolour420 mm x 320 mm unframed
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Julia HoldernessFootstool with Kowhai fabric, 2026Vintage footstool with rimu legs and printed linen with black trim310 x 260mm, 200mm off ground$ 550.00
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Julia HoldernessBotanical Correspondents, 2026Video workedition of 3, POA
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Preview Catalogue, 26th Aug - 14th Sept
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