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Her work is a unique expression of resilience, incorporating a journey through activism and environmental adoration.
Jeannie Holker was born in Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. As a child, she moved to Australia in a whirlwind of chaos, where she grew up on a biodynamic tropical fruit farm on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. Her childhood was spent predominantly up a large pine tree, where she swayed gently in a haunting whisper of pine needles and occasionally grovelled around on her hands and knees, collecting macadamia nuts while the sheep grazed.
She developed a strong bond with the natural environment and ran off into the wilderness for several decades, observing wildlife and growing commercial quantities of produce using draught horses as her farming companions. This is where these earthly foundations evolved from mud pies, caving and vegetable gardens to an immersive study of ceramics.
After surviving two extreme bushfires in a remote part of Victoria, Jeannie and her two daughters identify as climate refugees. This is the basis of her exploration of evolutionary resilience in a changing climate. She works in the Gondwana Rainforest, sharing her knowledge of adaption and survival for many endemic species.
Her art practice has been a way of life and survival, always making and creating. Her ceramics are exhibited daily in her kitchen sink where the evolution of skills and style can be experienced. She has had ceramic mentorship with Malcolm Boyd and Tamasin Pepper and completed a Diploma of Ceramics with the Coffs Harbour Tafe in 2024. She has exhibited in the Furkin exhibition in Far East Gippsland, Tree-o Furniture Gallery and Urunga Art Space. Her work is original, bold and passionate.
Established in 2021, the National Emerging Art Prize was created to provide an annual, highly visible national platform to identify, promote and support the most promising emerging visual and ceramic artists in Australia.
