06 Dec Tiarna Herczeg | Practice As Ritual | Curatorial+Co.

Tiarna Herczeg (she/them) is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Hungarian artist living on Gadigal lands. Their 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’s work is often understood with a comprehension of Indigenous, non-western maps. Maps that follow paths, Songlines and significant places. Tiarna’s practice is intuitive and instinctive as they paint often without a direct idea, rather uses their practice as a ritual for connecting to Country. Herczeg’s approach to painting also comes from a sense of urgency regarding their spiritual and cultural identity.

They work to disconnect from the idea of ‘painting’ and instead tap into their spirituality, losing the fear of painting a perfect artwork. This fearlessness shows in loose, large, gestural brush strokes with vibrant colours and organic compositions highlighting the familiarity, richness and vitality of Country. There is a spiritual exchange of energy between Tiarna and their work. Tiarna listens and opens up to be guided by cultural intuition. They are left with their own sacred depiction of Country that cannot be told by anyone else.

Film by Tash Yuncken
Music by Jono Hartmann