Language: Ngarrindjeri
Tiarnie Edwards is a Ngarrindjeri artist born in Kaurna Yarta and raised on the Nauo Country in the Lower Eyre Peninsula, growing up in the small seaside community of Tulka.
By the end of 2020 they moved back to Kaurna Country to study a Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of South Australia, graduating in 2023, and going on to participate in the 2024 Helpmann Graduate Exhibition as well as the Hatched 2024 Graduate Exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Tiarnie started working with ceramics in 2022 for the first time whilst studying at University and since then, ceramics has become a core focus of their artwork.
Tiarnie’s practice focuses on themes of identity, culture, history, politics, and activism and the intersectional way these fields overlap within complex and diverse identities within contemporary Australian life, particularly Aboriginal Identities. Tiarnie utilizes the universal language of visual knowledge to connect audiences to their narrative works, using humour and history to tell the stories of community and individuals. Their contemporary artworks explore the preservation of history and identities through storytelling.