Maki LeVine is opening her first solo exhibition
Some of you will know her from The Lab. Maki LeVine was part of the FND team from November 2025 through to April 2026, a photographer, colleague, one of us. What some of you might not know is that, beyond the lab, Maki is a fine art photographer, registered art therapist and professional counsellor who works between Tokyo and Melbourne. Her work explores memory, vulnerability, and our relationship with the natural world. Simple yet complex. Provocative yet existential. On Friday, 3 July, she opens Notes on Play at Unassigned Gallery in Brunswick, a body of medium-format film work made in Tokyo's children's parks that asks something of you as you walk in.
We sat down with her to find out more.
For anyone who hasn't been to Unassigned Gallery before — what kind of space is it, and why did you choose it for this work?
Unassigned Gallery is an artist-run community space in Brunswick. I appreciate their philosophy on connection and collaboration. Community is at the heart of my exhibition. My photographs were taken in Tokyo children's parks, which are often near Shinto shrines. For me, I think that parks offer sacred ground, too. As my exhibition is interactive, I have designed art activities that visitors are free to contribute to, along with an experiential invitation for future journaling. Unassigned Gallery feels like the perfect home for such participation.
Tell us about the exhibition, and what inspired you to make it?
Notes on Play is a series of photographs exploring memory, curiosity, and the embodiment of play. This body of work was inspired by the Japanese sensation Natsukashii (なつかしい), a feeling without a clear English translation. Natsukashii is a deep aching for the fondness of one’s past, where nostalgia and play reside.
This feeling was omnipresent for me during my 18 months living in Tokyo, where sleek modernism intersects with ancient traditions. With my medium-format camera, I became fascinated by the ways Noh masks, robots, castles, dinosaurs, and the reddish-orange colours of Shinto gates are woven into Japan’s playscape.
Having also lived in Japan as a child, neighbourhood parks were habitats for imagination and connection with nature. Cicadas called us to play outside in humid heat. Dragonflies drifted like ancestral spirits. In winter, snow collected on the seats of swings and my friends and I would wipe the snow with our mittens – and swing until our fingers were numb. Nostalgia is a sensory awakening!
You shot this on film. What did film offer that other medium did not?
Film commands me to slow down and be present. There’s an intentionality to the process that mirrors the themes of the work itself. Medium format film renders colour and texture in ways that awaken that Natsukashii in me. And the physicality of the negatives creates a tangible connection to body and memory. Film is an art form all on its own. Film sets the pace for me, deliberate with room to experiment, sometimes the imperfect image is the most perfect outcome.
Was there a frame or a moment while you were shooting that changed something for you?
Every image in this series was made in the spirit of play. There's something infectious in a playground, which is meant to be a spontaneous space. I think the models I chose to photograph felt that. I found myself climbing, observing, imagining, and interacting with the environment in ways I hadn't for years. The project became less about documenting play and more about actively revealing it through my lens.
You spent time at FilmNeverDie before this — how did that shape how you see and make work?
I worked at FilmNeverDie from November 2025 to April 2026, and it was my first experience inside a film lab. Before that, I would simply drop off my rolls and collect them later without pondering the care that happened in between. Working at FND gave me a deeper appreciation for the technical craft-art of analogue photography and gave me a sense of belonging to a community — the lab was simultaneously serious and playful. Understanding the process from exposure to development strengthened my relationship with my art and instilled an intent in how I shoot.
What do you want people to feel when they walk into the exhibition?
I hope they return to their senses … slow down … and feel some wonder and nostalgia. I hope play is reawakened. This exhibition is intended to be refreshing and participatory, an excursion into make-believe in real life. I want visitors to realise that our most restorative forms of play are often found by wandering rather than scheduled. Satisfying our aching fondness for a pastime is often closer than we realise. Sometimes it’s just around the corner in a local park. I hope visitors leave feeling curious and ‘determined’ to seek out moments of play in their own lives.
About the exhibition
Notes on Play by Maki LeVine
Venue: unassigned gallery, Brunswick
Address: 55 Edwards Street, Brunswick VIC 3056
Exhibition dates: Thursday 2 July to Monday 6 July 2026
Opening night: Friday 3 July 2026, 6–8pm
Opening hours: 12–4pm daily
Come and see the work.
