Tasmania has given much to the field of arts and entertainment. This includes The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian International Symphony Orchestra School and the Federation Concert Hall to name a few. From the Hobart Summer Festival, intended to celebrate food and wine, to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, which celebrates wooden boats, the culture of Tasmania is wide and varied. This can also be seen in the breadth of Tasmanian artists as well. Here are some notable artists:
- Evan Carydakis
Evan is a jazz artist who has been captivating listeners for over 25 years now. His affinity with jazz and, in particular, with the saxophone started with ‘Royal garden blues’ by Branford Marsalis. Born in Egypt and then moving to Australia, this artist has learned from some of the greats, such as John Barrett, and studied along the late Joe Viola, Jerry Bergonzi and Charlie Banacos.
He has made appearances recently at the Davenport Jazz Festival, Clarence Jazz Festival and the Museum of Old and New Art and Hobart.
- Catherine Rogers
A Tasmanian visual artist and printmaker, who mainly works with black and white linocutting. Her solo exhibition work ‘fractured’ was about Iceland’s surface, and it focussed on its glaciers and volcanoes. For this, she won the 2015 Nolan Gallery’s Print Prize. Her art can be found in many luxury hotels around Hobart and greater Tasmania.
- Adrian Bradbury
A highly talented painter and artist, Adrian received his Diploma of Visual Arts in 2003 from RMIT and graduated with Honours in Painting at the University of Tasmania in 2018. He has twice been a finalist in the Waterhouse Natural Science art prize, in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
His work has been used in many formats, most notably being featured in Lume, White Horses, The Mercury, The Examiner, and The Advocate. His work can currently seen on display at a popular Hobart waterfront accommodation spot.
- Anne Kellas
The author of the White Room Poems (2015), Poems from Mt Moono (1989) and Isolated States (2001), Anne Kellas is a poet, editor and mentor. The ‘white room poems’ is about grief, a subject she studied as a part of her master’s degree after moving to Australia with her husband and two sons.
Influenced by Yeats and Wordsworth, she defines her art as abstract lyric, which is a perfect blend of wit and the serious.
Anne’s work has inspired many. In 2008, Matthew Dewey composed a song ‘Cycle of Poems by Anne Kellas’, which was based on the ‘Isolated States’. Scott McIntyre is currently working on a composition based on the ‘White Room Poems’.
She has given lectures in poetry at a tertiary level and she also often holds workshops and mentor sessions.
- Harry Edwards
Harry is a jazz guitarist and composer and has acquired a wide array of knowledge of the art form through his experiences in Europe as well as the United States. These days, he mostly makes appearances in Hobart, performing at various festivals and venues, such as the Davenport Jazz Festival, the Clarence Jazz Festival, OzManouche and Hot August Jazz Festival.
He is an unaccompanied guitarist and has worked in duos and trios like ‘Isaac and Harry’, ‘Harry Edwards Trio’, ‘Django’s Tiger’ and ‘Ani and Harry’.
Harry Edwards trio is his self-titled debut album, released in 2015.
In addition to all this, he also runs an online gypsy jazz guitar school.
- Olivia hickey
Olivia is a jewellery and design artist.
Her journey started with a visit to Africa, where she met a jewellery designer from South America. She largely focuses on designs that indicate the vulnerabilities of Tasmania.
Her main focus is talismans and how they carve a culture by interacting with people’s mentality. Her work is mainly in silver, where she cast organic objects that are Gondwane in nature.
- James Dryburgh
The writer moved to Tasmania when he was six.
He was a co-editor for the Times and he started writing in the year 2010. His first book came out in the year 2014 named ‘Essays From Near And Far’. He has also worked with his wife in El Salvador, raising funds for community projects. His articles have been published in Island magazine, smith journal and others.
