Building on my recent work exploring the intersection of memory, loss, and mysticism, I intend to use the Dover Prize bursary to create a new body of work centred on the question: Who or What Am I? This project will delve into spiritual dimensions of consciousness, time, and being, drawing on esoteric traditions such as Kabbalah, Advaita Vedanta, and Sufism. Through painting, sculpture, and works on paper, I aim to visualise inner transformation and the universal search for meaning.
The work will be composed of layered trompe l’oeil paintings and sculptural forms incorporating found materials, photographs, phone footage, and personal ephemera. Inspired by sacred architecture, mythology, and cosmology: these works will blend the symbolic with the autobiographical.
The bursary will support material costs, studio rental, and research travel, enabling me to deepen my engagement with spiritual traditions and collect culturally significant source materials. I will also invest in professional documentation to present the work to curators and institutions.
The first year will focus on research and creation; the second year will be dedicated to curating and presenting the work as a solo exhibition. The process will allow for expanded experimentation with symbolic visual language and for evolving my technical and conceptual practice.
I am committed to developing this work in dialogue with the local environment and am open to working in Darlington or partnering with regional institutions. At a pivotal point in my career—having recently received commissions and gained institutional recognition—this project would help elevate my profile and allow me to consolidate my practice through an ambitious, focused, and spiritually resonant body of work.
I am committed to using art as a tool for dialogue and connection, and I see the Dover Prize as an opportunity to engage Darlington’s communities in meaningful ways. Drawing from my experience leading community projects and workshops with institutions such as SPACE Ilford, Colours of Redbridge, and the Earls Court Development Company, I would be open to running artist-led sessions on memory, transformation, and symbolism through collage and painting workshops.
During a three-month residency with ECDC, I ran weekly community workshops, which culminated in commissioned works now held in the public collection. Similarly, I facilitated a collaborative painting project with the Canterbury community that became part of their permanent collection. These experiences have taught me how to engage participants across generations and backgrounds.
In Darlington, I would be excited to host open studios, give talks on my research into spiritual and esoteric traditions, and offer accessible workshops that explore identity, memory, and the power of everyday materials. I would also welcome the opportunity to exhibit work in a local space and collaborate with regional museums or educational organisations to broaden access and conversation around contemporary art practice rooted in introspection and shared experience.
Driven by an archaeological impulse, my practice explores the psychic and cultural remnants of memory, time, and identity through painting, drawing, and sculpture. I intertwine autobiographical and fictional fragments to unearth and preserve ephemeral histories—particularly those tied to trauma, familial bonds, and spiritual introspection. A key point of origin in my practice is my close relationship with my grandfather, whose post-stroke neurological impairment catalyzed my interest in recollection and dislocation. My early work responded to this loss by depicting fragmented or obscured faces—visual metaphors for memory’s fragility. More recent work draws on mystical traditions (Kabbalah, Sufism, Advaita Vedanta) and sacred architecture to expand on this inquiry, reflecting on consciousness, reincarnation, and the metaphysical nature of the Self. My trompe l’oeil paintings use found objects, personal relics, and invented symbols in dense, sculptural compositions that blend Old Master technique with Surrealist collage logic. In both painting and sculpture, I transform and recontextualize aged materials, assembling them into layered reflections on temporality, identity, and the divine. My work has been featured in Art Maze Magazine, Hi-Fructose, Art Verge, and Daily Serving. I was the recipient of the SPACE Artist Award in 2021 and shortlisted for the Brewers Towner International (2022), The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize (2021), The Young Masters Art Prize (2014), and The Clyde & Co Awards (2012). Exhibitions include solo presentations at Baert Gallery (Los Angeles), and group shows at The Royal Academy of Arts (London), MK Gallery, Towner Gallery (Eastbourne), Gallery Rosenfeld, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, and Canterbury Museums. In 2022–2023, I was commissioned to create a painting for Mirror Mirror at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in partnership with The National Portrait Gallery. That work is now held in the permanent collection of Canterbury Museums and Galleries. At its core, my practice is an evolving investigation of memory, metaphysics, and myth—one that seeks to suspend time and invite quiet reflection.
BA hons Fine Art painting – Wimbledon College of Art (University of The Arts London)
2021 The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, shortlisted and Highly Commended Artist
2021 SPACE Artist Awards winner and grant
2020 The Derwent Art Prize, shortlisted exhibitor
2014 Young Masters Art Prize, shortlisted exhibitor
2012 The Clyde & Co Art Award, shortlisted exhibitor and grant
I have consistently created and contributed to self-initiated professional opportunities that extend beyond exhibiting work. During a three-month residency with the Earls Court Development Company, I led weekly workshops and collaborated closely with the community to develop a series of commissioned works. These pieces were informed by shared experiences and are now part of ECDC’s collection. I also led a community-based painting project with Canterbury Museums & Galleries that now sits in their permanent public collection.
While I do not run an artist-led studio per se, I have developed collaborative projects that function with a similar ethos — using my practice as a platform to create shared, meaningful, and publicly engaged outcomes. I’ve also facilitated artist-led workshops with institutions like SPACE Ilford and Colours of Redbridge, where I designed the content and delivery independently, responding to the needs of diverse participants.
In these contexts, I have taken on roles beyond that of a participating artist — initiating dialogue, designing educational content, and acting as a bridge between communities and institutions. These experiences have strengthened my belief in the artist’s role as both a maker and a connector.
Yes. In 2022-2023, I was commissioned to create a painting for the Mirror Mirror exhibition at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury, in partnership with The National Portrait Gallery, London. This painting is now part of the permanent public collection at Canterbury Museums and Galleries.
Yes, Canterbury Musuems and Galleries
2021 ArtMaze Magazine | Publication Issue 23, Curated by Julie Curtiss
2021 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize film, Victoria Miro in conversation with Dene (at 4 minutes 45)
2021 Recorder Newspaper, Ilford artist wins £5,000 bursary from Space studio, by Roy Chacko
2020 Textural Anthologies Podcast: The Illusionist, in conversation with Massimo Casagrande (Spotify)
2017 Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition Illustrated, pages 100, 127
2016 Hi-Fructose, Dene paints the world through a stroke victims eyes, by Caro Buermann
2014 Daily Serving, Fan Mail: Dene Leigh, Written by A. Will Brown
2014 Harper’s Bazaar, Preview: This year’s up-and-coming artistic talent, by Zoe Dickens
2013 BBC The Editors: Episode 7, UK television broadcast, BBC One, Nunnery Gallery
2013 Recorder Newspaper Dene’s art depicts…through his granddad’s eyes, by Jessica Earnshaw
Residencies with SPACE Studios and the Earls Court Development Company
Email: deneleighart@gmail.com
Address: Hertfordshire, GB
Local Authority: Broxbourne
