In her solo exhibition at Sanderson Contemporary, Julia Holderness refers to the garden, landscape and still life across a range of mediums and forms. Exhibiting in the company of her longtime art historical conduit Florence Weir, there is also research into Bloomsbury group painter and gardener Vanessa Bell and Welsh plantswoman Kitty Lloyd Jones, a pioneer for the professional female garden designer.

Holderness lives and works in Otautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2002 and an Honours in Visual Arts at AUT University, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in 2015. In 2022 the artist 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.

Central to Holderness’ practice is an interest in the history of art and the place of women practitioners within it. She explores how archives might allow us to engage with their work, as well as the current moment. The artist’s work is led by research into the modernist period and guided by the lens of the late artist-designer Florence Weir, a fabricated figure and nom de plume. Holderness’ research and work has been acknowledged as a significant contribution to New Zealand feminist art historiography.