A Torres Strait Islander woman, Janet Fieldhouse acknowledges the traditions of navigation and scarification on the body that signify clan affiliations and totems, living off the sea and the land, and women’s traditional practices such as woven body adornments for ceremony and dance.

Interested in balance and harmony, Fieldhouse’s most recent work explores finding the ‘sweet spot’ and allowing the forces of gravity to support the work, using natural clays and slips as her palette and embellishing the works with traditional Torres Strait Island adornments, including palm string, feathers and sharks’ teeth.

From a myriad of experiences and travels in Australia and overseas, Janet Fieldhouse’s exposure to a range of Western and Indigenous cultures has also activated new ideas and approaches within her work and art practice.

Janet Fieldhouse