Feature Artists
Feature Artists and Events are announced gradually in the lead up to the event, and our Premier's Arts Award winners announced at the fair.
FEATURE ARTIST FOR 2023
Francoise Lane
Francoise Lane’s creative practice straddles the intersection of art and design with a focus on indigenous themes and values. As a descendant of the Meriam and Kaurareg peoples of Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands, Australia) Lane’s practice draws upon her family’s cultural values of respecting and caring for land and sea, taking only what you need and honouring elders. She produces fine artwork, sculptural furniture, textile designs and collaboratively works with indigenous art centres and independent artists on creative projects.
She is instinctively drawn to subjects where patterns create their own ‘energy’ on a canvas. Her exploration of new approaches in the creation, understanding and valuing artworks in the genre of contemporary indigenous art has seen her awarded the 2022 HIAP Helsinki Residency from the Australia Council for the Arts.
2022 FEATURE ARTISTS
Each year, the Tasmanian Craft Fair hand picks feature artists from within Tasmania and abroad. This year we have selected Mae Finlayson. A Launceston based artist who makes soft sculpture, blending familiar and ordinary materials in unusual ways.
PREMIER’S ARTS PRIZE
This prestigious award is announced each year at the Fair. Together with a $10,000 Cash Prize made available by the Tasmanian Government through the Premier’s office, we now also produce a video to help them tell their story and shine a stronger spotlight on their art.