Tiarna Herczeg

Tiarna Herczeg is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Hungarian woman living on Gadigal lands. Her mob’s land runs along the east coast of Far north QLD and includes the land and waters between Port Douglas and just South of Cooktown. Kuku Yalanji Country is tropical , Rainforest Country.

Herczeg was born in Blacktown NSW and has spent most of her life living on Dharug Country.  Despite residing on Gadigal lands for the past two or so years, Herczeg still maintains a strong connection to her community out west.  As a young person when she wasnt working , she would spend her spare time volunteering in community centres around Mount Druitt and Doonside, doing food runs and supporting community events. Leaving high school they went on to study a Bachelor of Laws and Arts majoring in Social Justice, which they continued for three years before transferring degrees to a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The National Art School. During their time studying Law they were selected by the NSW BAR Association to be apart of the National Aboriginal Legal Conference in Perth and also secured a paid internship with Department of Communities and Justice NSW for two and a half years. They are now in their third year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School, Darlinghurst with an awarded ATIS Scholarship.

Herczeg’s work is often understood with a comprehension of Indigenous, non western maps. Maps that follow paths, songlines and significant places. Her practice is intuitive and instinctive as she paints often without a direct idea and rather uses her practice as a ritual for connecting to Country. Her approach to painting also comes from a sense of urgency regarding her spiritual and cultural identity. As Herczeg allows herself to disconnect from the idea of painting and instead taps into her spirituality, she loses the fear of painting an artwork and without preference paints as an action. This fearlessness shows in loose, large and gestural brush strokes, vibrant colours and organic compositions highlighting the familiarity, richness and naturalness of Country. There is a spiritual exchange of energy between herself and the artwork. By allowing herself to listen and be guided by her cultural intuition, she is left with a sacred depiction of Country that cannot be told by anyone else.

Although Herczeg mostly paints, they also have a strong interest in sculpture and installation. They use sculpture and installation as a medium for diversifying their way of communication. Inclusivity is very important to them as they are passionate about Blak, Poc, Swer and disability rights. Painting dominates our visual senses and it is important to them that they allow all of their audience to participate in a sensory experience that doesnt exclude those that are vision or hearing impared. Tiarna has collaborated with artist in the past to create soundscapes for exhitions and hopes to share a more diverse experience in the future.