Kererū No.2

Giclée print on archival fine art paper
91 x 72 cm / 36 x 28" Edition of 14 + 2 APs • 112 x 89 cm / 44 x 35" Edition of 14 + 2 APs • Series: The Memory of the World
© Leila Jeffreys 2025

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Artwork Information

Bird Information

Where do you find the birds?

Leila works closely with wildlife carers, bird sanctuaries, and conservationists to ethically photograph birds. Many of her subjects are rescued or part of breeding programs. Each bird is photographed with care and respect in a quiet, calm environment.

How do you get the birds to stay still?

They don’t stay still. Patience, empathy, and trust are key. Leila creates a calm setting where the birds feel safe, allowing their natural presence to emerge. It takes enormous lengths of time.

Do you donate and support bird welfare?

Yes, Leila regularly donates to wildlife organisations and works in partnership with conservation groups. Supporting bird welfare is at the heart of her practice. Leila helps in the following ways: she has placed a covenant on family owned land in Western Australia to protect it from development; she has donated numerous artworks to be sold for fundraising, she pays charities directly for their time when working with their rescued birds, and she also donates monthly to two animal specific charities.

Series

The Memory of the World

Evolving in isolation for millions of years, the native birds of Aotearoa New Zealand are living records of ancient lineages - preserving a version of the world long vanished elsewhere. This series honours that deep time and their quiet endurance.

Look into their eyes and you’ll see how fully they live in the immediacy of life. They remind us that we are animals too—that we once lived with the same attunement to the natural world. If you listen closely, their whispers call us back to that connection. And it is in that return that we remember how to be the best version of ourselves.

Developed over a decade, the series was created in collaboration with organisations working at the frontlines of care and conservation, including the Department of Conservation, Zealandia, Wellington Zoo, and the animal welfare trust HUHA. It was first exhibited with Olsen Gallery at the 2025 Aotearoa Art Fair in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland—one of the region’s most significant platforms for contemporary art - and became the subject of a major feature in the New Zealand Herald at launch.

by Neha Kale

LEILA JEFFREYS

Leila Jeffreys is a renowned contemporary artist working across photography, moving image and installation. She is best known for images of birds, photographed at human scale, that explore and subvert the conventions of portraiture. Jeffreys, who lives and works in Sydney with her husband and son, sees her avian subjects as living beings, part of a practice that expands viewer’s hearts by drawing attention to interdependence between species.

Jeffreys’ work is a result of years-long periods of research and exploration. In the tradition of artist-activists, she conducts fieldwork, collaborates with conservationists, ornithologists and sanctuaries and champions programs to protect and restore endangered habitats.

Nigel Lough / Travel & Luxury Magazine / News Ltd

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