Joanne Handley was born in Sydney in 1960 and currently lives and works in Thirroul, NSW. She studied painting at the City Art Institute, completing a Bachelor of Art Education in 1982 and holds a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (2004).

Handley’s work explores the perceptual and cultural dynamics of liminality. Questioning the nature of boundaries and how this perception determines our understanding of what lies ‘between’, she is interested in the internal dialogue, the process of inquiry itself;  transitions;  liminal spaces where ideas or concepts (be they cultural, political or artistic) are in constant states of dissolution, negotiation and change.

Handley has held solo shows in Australia and the United States and participated in numerous international group exhibitions and projects. Her work has been exhibited at the New York Hall of Science, New York; the Contemporary Art Museum at the Institute for Research in Art, University of Southern Florida, USA; the Centre for Cultural Exchange, Portland, ME, USA; Artists Space, New York; the Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, USA; Gallery 4a Asia-Australia Arts Centre, the University of NSW; Wollongong City Gallery; Macquarie University Gallery and the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.

She has taught at several fine arts institutions in Australia and the U.S. including Maine College of Art, Portland, USA; the Centre for Digital Media and Design, IIT; the Illawarra Institute of Technology, West Wollongong and is currently a sessional lecturer at the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales.

Joanne Handley's work is held in private and public collections including Macquarie University, Wollongong City Gallery, El Gabinete de Hyde, Málagna, Spain, DIN A4 Institute- Roermond, The Netherlands and the Centre for Cultural Exchange, Portland, ME, USA.