Jennifer Herd

Jennifer Herd is an Australian Indigenous artist with family ties to the Mbar-barrum people of North Queensland. She is a founding member of the ProppaNOW artist collective, and taught at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, where she convened both the Bachelor of Fine Art and Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art. In 2003 she won the Queensland College of Art Graduate Students prize, the Theiss Art Prize, for her Masters of Visual Arts.

Education and teaching Herd received a Certificate in Fashion Design from Queensland College of Art, and worked in fashion and theater for twelve years. Shields, an important part of North Queensland culture, are a frequent recurrent in her work, standing in for strength and protection, and drawing on the traditional practice of decoration performed by women for warriors. ProppaNOW's aim has been to work collectively to create new and better opportunities for Indigenous artists working in urban environments. In the interview Herd talks to artist and academic, Pat Hoffie about her life, her art and her inspirations.