Biography
Anna’s Mother was Australian, her father a New Zealander who, when she was born was working with telecommunications in Suva. Three years later he accepted a position as an illustrator with the Sun Newspaper in Sydney, as he was also a talented commercial artist. The family moved to Australia and settled in Sydney where Anna completed her education at Abbotsleigh College and then went on to art studies at East Sydney at what is now called the National Art School. |
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The course consisted of two years of foundation studies followed by three years of study within a chosen area – in her case fine art painting. After completion of her art studies she married and spent the next three years travelling and studying in Europe, the Middle East and India. Anna exhibited in solo and group exhibitions on return to Australia and in 1984 became a foundation teacher and co-ordinator with the Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies visual arts course at the TAFE College in Cairns. Over the last 21 years she has worked closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists as they have sought to rediscover their culture through their art, talking with their elders to find links with their ancestors, learning the history of their people. Anna edited a book “Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art” published by Central Queensland University Press in 2000 which features the work of the indigenous artists who have studied with the Cairns visual arts course. Many of the intricate linocut prints of the Torres Strait Islander group are printed in this book and these images are now recognised as the forefront of an exciting new contemporary art movement. |
