BIOGRAPHY

From a very early age Larissa Gray knew that all she ever wanted to do was to make art.

Larissa grew up in a rural area of Sydney, NSW surrounded by bush-land and during her childhood, playing in the trees and creeks near her home, she formed a deep affinity for the Australian bush and this love strongly influences her work.

At the age of 16, Larissa dropped out of high school to study a Diploma of Fine Art at the National Art School where she majored in Photography and Sculpture. After graduating in 1996 at age 21 she spent time working and travelling overseas and around Australia and eventually embarked on a career with animals, her second love.

Larissa’s career with animals had her vet nursing and working in animal welfare for many years before she embarked on a career training and working detection dogs for both state and federal governments in NSW, WA and VIC.

In 2012 her work led her to Melbourne, Victoria and she started to put down roots. In 2015 she settled down in the regional town of Kyneton where she could finally focus on her career as an artist full-time.

From 2020 to 2024 Larissa was a member of the Little Gallery in Trentham, a long standing gallery in the Central Victorian Highlands established in 2012.

In 2024 Larissa joined with two artist friends, painter Llael McDonald and botanical illustrator Freya Maclaren to form the Highlands Artist Collective.

Together recognising that the journey of a woman artist is often marked by distinct challenges the Highlands Artists Collective evolved from these discussions and uses the diversity of these experiences to support, empower, and elevate each other within the visual arts community, through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative projects.

At the heart of the group’s philosophy lies the belief in the transformative power of collaboration.