Harli Vi is a neurodivergent, disabled and gender queer artist, based in the beautiful Mullumbimby Arakwal/Bundjalung area. 

Their experiences traversing a world set up for neurotypical people feeds their art. They are always learning new creative ways to work within their health constraints and doing such with a sense of curiosity has become so important to them as it affects the outcomes and processes of their art in often exciting, occasionally deflating, ways. Listening to their body in this way feels like a new material or technique to engage with and their ADHD loves that. The autistic side to Harli’s nature finds it less joyful, as often a project will shift focus mid creation and become a new beast of its own as they learn their body won’t allow them to do certain things.

Photographically they are inspired by the people they work with and the nature all around. Working with sculptures and installations brings a new joy for Harli who loves to let the materials speak to them and this opens up even more possibilities. Each layer in all of their creative endeavours, much like life, comes together with all the good, the bad and the ugly to create something deeper and more complex and to Harli, it is more beautiful for the complexity even if many of those layers won’t be seen in the final work. Preference for artistic exploration will always go to a derelict shack over a shiny new high rise, though unique architecture is a joy; nature wins over all. You can see these influences throughout their wide range of artistic modalities.

The process of making art helps them to understand more about themselves and how they relate to the world. They prefer working with many layers of glazes and mark making, building up rich and diverse textures and colours in paintings. Harli is drawn to the many colours of the wider world, and colours from their day to day life appearing in their work as often in a painting as it appears on the walls, floor, ceiling of their chaotically maximalist truck home.

Learning where they stand in the world as a gender diverse person living with disability and finding their strength in moving towards more healthy practices and having positive community around them this is incredibly important. They are excited to share the journey with you.

EXPERIENCES

Fashion Illustration & Fashion Design – Melbourne School of Fashion 2000

Diploma Entertainment Makeup and Special Effects – Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy 2002

Freelance Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist, Photographer – Melbourne 2002-2017

Burlesque performances – Byron Bay 2018

Drag King performance – Melbourne 2019

EUPHORIA Exploring Trans Joy Exhibition – Harehole, Melbourne 2022

Stamping Workshop for Young Queerios at Queer Family- Mullumbimby 2022

TDOV Queer Family Exhibition and Interactive Painting Demonstration – Mullumbimby 2023

Certificate II in Visual Arts – Byron Community College 2024

The Wallum Smalls exhibition – 2025

Incognito Art Show – 2024 & 2025

Spoken Word performances – Byron Bay 2025