Over the twenty years that Brisbane born artist, designer, photographer and educator Lehan Ramsay lived in Japan, she continued her passion for collaboration, transformation and “playfulness”. Lehan spent a lifetime empowering, emboldening and ennobling so many others to find and act on their passion, playfulness and to tap into their hidden creativity, sense of wonder and imagination.

In this series of photographs from Lehan’s exhibition in Kyoto in May 2015 many of Lehan’s students were invited to paint hedgehogs for an immersive wall-based installation.

Thanks to designer and collaborator Kenn Bushby; one of Lehan’s many artist friends,  for so kindly sharing a selection of documentation photographs to these artist-led archives.

As Kenn recollects of Lehan’s exhibition in Murasakinoishigosho Kita-Ku Kyoto May 2015: “During my visit to Kyoto last year, Lehan had a show which I hung for her. The last one is of hedgehog paintings by all her students, adults and kids.. everyone had to paint a hedgehog.”