Tannya Harricks is a Sydney based artist known for her lush paintings characterised by gestural marks and painterly abstractions. Intent on capturing the energy of the subject through spontaneous gesture, she paints intuitively and without premeditation. The subject of her work is reimagined in the manipulation of colour and form with fluid brushwork.

Tannya has exhibited in Australia, New Zealand and Florence and has been awarded the Waverley Art Prize, Hornsby Art Prize and highly commended at the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, S.A. She has been a finalist in many prominent Australian art awards including Muswellbrook Art Prize, Mosman Art Prize, Gallipoli Art Prize, Gold Coast city Prize. Her work is held in private and Government collections throughout Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong including Wollongong Private Hospital.

Tannya has 29 years of experience as a designer, textile artist, illustrator and artist. She has illustrated 4 children’s books including Dingo (winner of Premier’s Literary award 2019), Kookaburra and Mallee Sky and is currently illustrating a picture book story by Cathy Freeman (Larrikin House Publishing).

Artist Interview Video

Symbiosis

“I am interested in the symbiotic relationship between nature and humankind. Imagining a future where this relationship is mutually beneficial, respectful and balanced, not parasitic.

In the 1930s, Abstract Expressionist Hans Hoffman coined the term “push and pull”. I am interested in the connections between the “push and pull” of both painting and of nature: how to balance the warm and cool; seasonal extremes; surface and depth; destruction and regeneration; and history with the present. Exploring the physicality of paint and charcoal, as material without premeditation, allows me to express what the artwork requires while editing and abbreviating the scene or subject. The action of layering, moving, and scraping off paint creates a foundation that becomes part of the geology of the painting.

I aim to fill my paintings and drawings with the energy that I have absorbed from my favourite places along the NSW coast. Thinking about regeneration and cycles of life, 50 years on this planet, looking, contemplating, drawing and painting, to try to understand it through an artist’s eye.” – Tannya Harricks, 2022

“They took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum.” – Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi, 1970

Artist Statement

I would like to acknowledge the Guringai People of the Eora Nation as the traditional owners of the land upon which I work and live. I pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

I am drawn to painting what is not seen in a subject, but rather the feeling it evokes. Subject is merely a springboard for the act of painting itself – to create something that is instinctive and subjective to my own artistic interpretation. My approach is unconventional and my process is not linear, but it is underpinned by composition, colour and light.

In the studio, I work from various sources – my studies, real life and photos. Inspiration is everywhere but I am fascinated with the unpolished energy of the Australian coast and bush, and the imperfection of nature.

‘A painting to me is primarily a verb, not a noun, an event first and only secondarily an image.’ – Elaine de Kooning

CV
Born 1972, Goulburn NSW

Education

1998        AWARD (Australian Writers and Art Directors) School, NSW
1992        Diploma, Graphic Design, Randwick TAFE

Solo Exhibitions

2022 Symbiosis, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2021 Imperfection, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2020 Flow, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2019 Current, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2019 Mallee Sky, Swan Hill Regional Gallery, Swan Hill VIC
2018 Shifting, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2018 Dingo, Waverley Library Gallery, Bondi Junction, NSW
2014 Take me to the Coast, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney NSW
2014 Coastal Series, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2012 Dogs and their People, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney NSW

Selected Exhibitions

2024 Grace Cossington Smith Biennial Art Prize, Sydney NSW
2023 Paddington Art Prize, Redfern NSW
2023 KAAF Art Prize, Sydney NSW
2023 Gallipoli Art Prize, The Rocks, Sydney NSW
2022 John Villiers Outback Art Prize, Winton QLD
2021 Greenway Art Prize, Inner West Council, Summer Hill
2018 45th Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre NSW
2018 Hornsby Art Prize, Wallarobba Arts Centre, Sydney
2017 Manning Art Prize: Naked & Nude, Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree
2015 Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre NSW
2014 Benalla Nude Art Prize, Benalla Regional Art Gallery, Benalla, Victoria
2014 Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2014 Hornsby Art Prize, Wallarobba Arts Centre, Sydney
2014 Gallipoli Art Prize, Gallipoli Memorial Club, Sydney
2013 Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, Museum of South Australia, SA
2013 Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2013 Waverley Art Prize, Waverley Woollahra Art School, Sydney
2013 Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, NSW
2013 Hornsby Art Prize, Wallarobba Arts Centre, Sydney
2012 Gold Coast Art Prize, HOTA, Gold Coast, QLD
2012 Hornsby Art Prize, Wallarobba Arts Centre, Sydney
2012 Waverley Art Prize, Waverley Woollahra Art School, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2021 Illustrated, Autumn exhibitions, Sydney Childrens Hospital, Randwick
2021 Tutors exhibition, ArtEst Art School, Sydney
2020 Visualising stories, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, NSW
2019 Licorice All sorts, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, NSW
2018 Laughter is the best Medicine, Sydney Childrens Hospital, Randwick
2017 Baradene College Art Exhibition, Baradene College, Auckland, NZ
2016 Internationart, Galleria 360, Florence, Italy
2016 Kings College Fine Art Show, Auckland, New Zealand
2016 VEFA Exhibition of fine art, Auckland, New Zealand
2015 Within and Beyond, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney
2015 Studio Artists Exhibition: Art Month, Waverley Library Galleries, Sydney
2013 Summer group show, Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney

Awards

2013 Winner of open prize (aquired), Waverley Art Prize
2013 Winner drawing Prize, Waverley Art Prize
2013 Highly Commended, Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize
2012 Artwork acquired for the collection , Gold Coast Art Prize
2012 Overall Winner (aquired), Hornsby Art Prize
2012 Winner – Mayor’s prize (aquired), Waverley Art Prize
2019 Winner Childrens Literature , NSW Premiers Literary Award (Illustrator)

Residencies

2023 Nancy Fairfax AIR studio, Tweed Regional Gallery
2020 Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson, N Y Studio School, New York
2019 Bundanon Trust Artist in Residence Program, NSW
2019 The Scots Preparatory College
2015 Fraser Island Research and Learning Centre, K’Gari (Fraser Island), QLD
2013 Waverley Council Artist in Residence, Bondi Studios, Sydney

Picture Book Commissions

2024 Night Watch, Jodi Toering (Author), Walker Books Australia
2022 The Heartbeat of the Land, Cathy Freeman with Coral Vass (Author)
2020 Kookaburra, Claire Saxby (Author), Walker Books (Publisher)
2019 Mallee Sky, Jodi Toering (Author), Black Dog Books/Walker Books
2018 Dingo, Claire Saxby (Author), Walker Books (Publisher)

Collections

Wollongong Private Hospital (executive suites), Waverley City Council,
Hornsby City Council, Gold Coast City Gallery,
Private collections in Australia and Internationally