ABOUT

Biography

Bella Layone is a Syrian multidisciplinary visual artist based in Sydney, working across installation, sculpture, painting, photography, and video. Her practice is grounded in material experimentation and abstraction, exploring the emotional and psychological dimensions of space.

After studying Psychology and Fine Arts in Syria (2014–2016), Layone relocated to Australia at the age of 20, where she continued her artistic education. She completed a Diploma of Screen and Media (2020), a Diploma of Arts Screen and Production at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (2021–2022), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School, Sydney (2025).

Layone has exhibited in group exhibitions both in Australia and internationally, including Proof of Place at Schmick Contemporary (2026). She has been recognised as a finalist in the Blacktown City Art Prize (2024) and the Burwood Art Prize (2024, 2025). Her practice reflects on themes of displacement, identity, and transformation, using abstraction and material processes to navigate the tension between presence and absence

Education

2023–2025 — Bachelor of Fine Arts, National Art School, Sydney
2021 —2022 Diploma of Arts Screen and Production, Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Sydney
2020 — 2021 Diploma of Screen and Media, Academy of Film, Theatre and Television, Sydney
2014–2016 — Studies in Psychology and Fine Arts, Damascus, Syria

Exhibitions (Selected Group Exhibitions)

2026 — Proof of Place, Schmick Contemporary, Sydney 2025 — The Black Square Divide, Alpha Gallery, Sydney 2024 — Placebo Please, Elfaro Gallery, Sydney
2023 — Blue, The Good Gallery, Sydney

2021 — 60 Dreams, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
2019 — Lifeline, Bankstown Arts Centre, Sydney
2017 — My Father is Red, Soul Inside Gallery, Lebanon 2017 — Kozah Art Gallery, Syria
2016 — Culture Centre, Syria
2015 — Adham Ismaeel Art Centre, Syria

Art Prizes

2025 — Vail, Finalist, Burwood Art Prize
2024 — Body from a Memory, Finalist, Blacktown City Art Prize 2024 — Midnight Flowers, Finalist, Burwood Art Prize

Awards
2022 — OBSESSED, Best Short Film, Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) Press / Publications
2021 — Dreams, Faces and Lines, The Review Board (Bijou Xu)