Biography

ADAPTOR BIRDS

Part of the exhibition at Grainger Gallery Sept 2023
SPRING JARDIN & FALLING FLOWERS

These masters of the natural world are adapting as the climate changes. While ice sheets melt, seas edge ever higher, and
urban creep overruns pockets of wilderness, bird friends are on watch. They observe, collect information and act, serving as
distinguished officers of environmental protection.

Bird forms and the infinite variety of avian plumage and physiology continue to fascinate and inspire me.
My ceramic sculptures play with the human need to anthropomorphise wild creatures in order to empathise with them or protect their natural habitats.
They also seek to present each creature as a full and vivid character from an as yet undiscovered pocket of the natural world.


Thea is a multi-disciplinary artist who studied Sculpture and Printmaking at the Australian National University’s School of Art and has held solo exhibitions of prints in Australia and Switzerland.

Her work as a painter has focused on the suburban streetscapes of Australia's capital, Canberra, and reflected aspects of architectural heritage, planned urban spaces, and the tension between its natural and built environments.

Thea’s art practice is constantly evolving and has expanded to include ceramics. Her recent exhibition Flock (Belconnen Arts Centre, 2020) explored the diversity of bird life through playful ceramic explorations of pattern, colour and form. Her recent work continues the creation of bird characters, which seek to draw wonder and appreciation of the natural world.

Her ceramics, paintings and prints are held in private collections in Australia and internationally.