Dr Treahna Hamm announced as the Inaugural Joyce Spencer Textiles Fellowship Recipient
The Cad Factory, Western Riverina Arts and the Spencer Family are delighted to announce that Dr Treahna Hamm has been awarded the 2020 inaugural Joyce Spencer Textiles Fellowship.
The Joyce Spencer Fellowship is a new initiative that supports textile artists based in regional NSW to develop and present new work. The $4000 fellowship will be used for Dr Hamm to present a new exhibition of work in 2021 at Burraja Gallery in Albury, before touring to Griffith Regional Art Gallery and the Narrandera Arts and Community Centre.
“As an artist and teacher, I am very honoured to receive the Joyce Spencer Fellowship in its inaugural year. I was first drawn to Joyce's art and story which highlighted many parallels of my own life experiences - being a regional artist, connecting with my culture through my arts practice and having a love for the environment, wildlife and learning. I was inspired by Joyce's openness for sharing personal and artistic skills through teaching, and, the many people who benefitted from the encouragement that Joyce gave during her lifetime,” reflected Dr Hamm.
Dr Treahna Hamm has been a practicing visual artist for over three decades. Her career began at Wangaratta TAFE in 1982, before completing five degrees in Visual Arts, Teaching and Education and a Doctorate of Philosophy (School of Education) at RMIT University in 2008.
Dr Hamm’s artworks are composed with multiple-layers of storytelling garnered from her Yorta Yorta upbringing by the Murray River in Northern Victoria and Southern NSW. This, along with contemporary practices such as printmaking, painting, photography, public art, sculpture, possum skin cloaks, murals and fibre weaving, allows for diverse artwork creation.
Treahna has exhibited in New York, South Korea, Hawaii, New Zealand, Paris, Belgium, Germany and the United States. Her vibrant works are in national and international collections.
Aanya Whitehead, Executive Director, Western Riverina Arts said that, “Treahna Hamm is a more than deserving recipient of the Joyce Spencer Fellowship. As an artist she is unafraid to journey in peripatetic style, seeking narratives in unknown spaces. She pursues in her work her living culture whilst also forging a signature original vision that communicates with emotional warmth. We are very excited about Treahna being able to create a collection of new work supported by the Fellowship that continues this artistic journey for her.”
Sarah McEwan from the Cad Factory explains, “The applications we received in our first round of the Fellowship were of an excellent quality, and there was much debate amongst the panel. However, we loved Treahna’s beautiful honouring of Joyce, along with her ambition of practice, technique and exhibition outcomes.”
Joyce Spencer (1928–2019) was an active artist and craft practitioner throughout her lifetime, having created a large body of artwork, teaching hundreds of workshops, and writing five bestselling craft books. The Fellowship is in honour of Joyce’s lifelong connection to regional making and living, both in the Southern Highlands and Narrandera.
Applications for the final year of the Joyce Spencer Textiles Fellowship open on 31 May 2021.
For interviews and more details please contact Sarah McEwan, sarah@cadfactory.com.au or 0405 447 490
Image 1 - Dr Treahna Hamm with her work at Canberra Glassworks. Photographer Kelli Cole.
Image 2 - Dr Treahna Hamm Possum Skin Cloak in memory of WW1 servicemen & servicewomen, Open House: 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial. Photographer Jules Boag.
