Tiarna Herczegg, a proud First Nations and Hungarian artist living on Gadigal lands, has spent 10 days working on Larrakia Country, as the artist in residence at Laundry Gallery.
She identifies as Kuku Yalanji/Kuku Nyungkul Warra with family ties from Hopevale, Cherbourg and Laura, in Far North Queensland. Herczeg was born on Dharug Country in Western Sydney and spent a majority of her life in between there, Rockhampton and the Blue Mountains.
Ahead of her solo exhibition, I CAME YANYU THROUGH THE JIRI (I came here through the sky), which opened on Friday night at Darwin's Laundry Gallery, Herczeg chatted about her practice to Laundry Gallery’s Director Nina Fitzgerald while she photographed her painting the works.
TH: [Red Wine by Neil Diamond is just finishing.] This song reminds me of being a kid, and all the Aunts and Uncles being around. You know how you listen to a song and it can just take you back to a time or a memory.
NF: [She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals comes on.] Well, this is also my childhood. My Dad used to play this whole record all the time. It reminds me of growing up in my elevated Troppo house and being out on the veranda or that open lounge room, and this is the music playing while Dad was gardening or something. Loving the playlist by the way.
TH: I feel like when I listen to music it really dictates how I paint, how I feel. But sometimes too much. If I’m sad, I’ll play sad music, which will come out in my art. So at times I’ll paint in silence. I forget how intense and powerful these types of artworks are. It’s really a bit ballistic.
NF: I love that word to describe it – ballistic. What do you mean by that though? What are you thinking about while you are working?
TH: No, I'm not thinking about anything really. I'm just feeling out what's happening until things start clicking.
NF: And that's why you're checking over it constantly. I notice you adjusting it as you go.
TH: I'm waiting for it to connect with me, and if it doesn't then I go 'Okay, bye'. I use it as a learning tool, painting. It is a subconscious learning tool of sorts. What is this painting telling me? What does it remind me of? How do I feel? So, if I don't feel like it relates to me in any way, I don't put it out into the world.
NF: What kind of connection do you look for?
TH: I am looking for... it's not like I am searching for anything, but this feeling of energising.
NF: There is certainly boundless energy in these. Has that come from something you think? Is it a memory for example?
TH: Sometimes I think I look at a painting and it's definitely attached to memories and place. Other times I think they're just an expression of what is happening at the time.
NF: It's all different. And it’s all you. An incredible way to express yourself.
TH: Sometimes I have a story when I am painting. When I was painting my last show I was under a lot of stress. The works were so structured. But I have always done that, since I was a kid. I do not have a preconceived idea of what I'm going to make or think 'I'm going to be making in an artwork'. I just go in and just enjoy the process and see what I can learn along the way. If I don't connect, and the pieces don't work for me, then I'm just like, 'Well, I'll start again'. It's no drama.
NF: I find that so inspiring. To feel it out, and let it go if it doesn't suit you. Are people in your family artists in their own right?
TH: No one's a painter. My Brother's a tattoo artist. I think some of my Dad's and Nan’s siblings create. Where my Great Grandmother is from, she is from a place called Laura, also known as Quinkan Country. Quinkan is a spirit, and the spirit used to hide in the rocks. The spirit is painted on the rocks. It’s some of the oldest rock art.
NF: Wow, I didn’t know that! Tell me about these colours...
TH: Well, here's the thing. In my studio I have hundreds – I have every colour you could want. But when I started my practice, I was really poor, so I always had a limited colour palette and I just made do with what was around me. So, I've kind of built my practice on that – just using what I have as a tool of communicating. How can I use these colorus to best communicate what I need to say? But now I have so many colours. So as I said before, I think a lot of it's just guided by feeling as I go.
NF: Bright, bold – BALLISTIC. Is that what you are feeling being up here?
TH: I think I always paint what I want, or what I need. So looking at these colours I've picked makes so much sense, because I have a lot of really cool-toned colours. And this makes sense because its so fucking hot here.
NF: Cooling artwork. But what about the yellows and the reds?
TH: Even the yellows and the reds. Yeah, I think that's the essence of how hot it is here to be honest. But then, they're not dry – the red and the yellow I mean. They're very lively and almost like they've been washed as well.
NF: It is unseasonably warm at the moment. I like how bold these colours are as you are reflecting on the surrounds here. The way that I see the Territory, the colours, the landscapes it’s all such contrasting colours. The greens contrasted against the blue sky or…
TH: Yeah! Literally when we went to Humpty Doo there's red, and then it's contrasted against a blue sky or a hot pink flower. And the colours are bouncing off of everything.
NF: That's what you were saying yesterday, talking about that red and purple bouncing around. I can see a lot of purple in our surrounds. But the red, can you explain to me about the the red?
TH: Well, I think when we went down to the beach and looking at the rocks. Obviously there's red in purple but I don't know... It's just got this very feminine energy, and looking out at the rocks and their intensity; they look so strong. It’s pretty powerful. Very powerful.
