Lesley Wengembo is a talented young artist from PNG who creates hyper-realistic portraiture, primarily depicting Indigenous people in traditional attire.
“As a contemporary Indigenous artist, I try to capture an essence of what is still alive today, expressed through their faces, before it disappears” – Lesley Wengembo
In 2019, Lesley travelled to Europe representing PNG as part of a Tourism and Cultural Expo and exhibited four works in the accompanying travelling exhibition. In 2020, Lesley travelled to France and exhibited two works in the Paris Art Symposium. In the same year he was a finalist in the 2020 Brisbane Portrait Prize with his portrait of Tim Fairfax, and in the 2023 Brisbane Portrait Prize with his portrait of NRL legend Petero Ciconiceva. In 2026 he painted a portrait of Namila Benson, host of the ABC Art Show, for submission to the Archibald Prize competition.
He was a Tim Fairfax Scholarship recipient and in 2021 graduated from National Art School with a Bachelor of Fine Art. He is currently studying a Masters at RMIT Melbourne.
Combine your visit with a look at Ngunuggula’s current exhibition, ‘Stories from a small country town’, curated by Djon Mundine OAM. It’s a multifaceted exhibition showcasing the work of acclaimed artists Archie Moore and Daniel Boyd. Through a dynamic investigation of portraiture, the exhibition interrogates the complexities of identity as expressed through social and physical action, trauma and its reverberations, as well as moments of play and joy.
