Bella Layone
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, Australia
2021–2022 — Diploma of Arts Screen and Production, Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Sydney, Australia
2020–2021 — Diploma of Screen and Media, Academy of Film, Theatre and Television, Sydney, Australia
2014–2016 — Studies in Psychology and Fine Arts, Damascus, Syria
Selected Exhibitions
2026 — Proof of Place, Schmick Contemporary, Sydney
2026 — Playground, Hake House Gallery, Sydney
2026 — Situated Knowledges, Borderspace Gallery, Chippendale, Sydney
2026 — Group Exhibition (upcoming), Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney
2025 — National Art School Graduate Exhibition, 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
Professional Development
2026 — Selected Artist, Ancher Points Professional Residencies
2026 — Cementa Artist in Residence, Kandos, NSW, Australia
Development Program, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney
Awards
2022 — OBSESSED, Best Short Film, Australian Production Design Guild Awards
Publications
2021 — Dreams, Faces and Lines, review by Bijou Xu, The Review Board