PepTalks Brisbane, Thursday 1 June 2023

A beloved member of the Brisbane artistic community, Bonnie is a ceramicist specialising in hand building and ceramic illustration. She meticulously hand-crafts her forms through an involved and often uncertain process inherent in working with clay, uniting bright colours and satirical shapes to engage her audience in a dialogue with the physical world around them. Her work intersects traditional representations of ceramics with a craft aesthetic to create a contemporary interpretation of the ceramic medium. The artwork doesn’t take itself too seriously yet is able to capture personal experiences universal to the human condition. The performative, brightly coloured ceramics forge an existence through joy and curiosity. 

Daile is the CEO of Children by Choice, Queensland’s state-wide counselling, information and education service on all pregnancy options, including abortion, adoption, kinship and alternative care and parenting. Children by Choice are leaders in advocacy for advancing reproductive autonomy and access to compassionate abortion nationally.

Daile aligns with Children by Choice’s vision, working towards a world where people can freely and safely make their own reproductive and sexual health choices without barriers. 

In 2018 Daile led the Children by Choice campaign to decriminalise abortion in Queensland and she continues to advocate for free, safe, legal, compassionate and local abortion care for women and pregnant people.

Ash is the founder and CEO of Monty Compost Co, a sustainability startup working to return all food and organic waste back into our soils. While studying at the University of Queensland, alongside volunteering with environmental groups, she saw the massive global issues surrounding waste, the impact potential of recycling and the role that innovative technologies could play in a solution. This inspired Monty, where she has spent over four years researching and developing the world-first, Australia-made smart compost monitor for tracking and managing organic waste management.

Dr Anna Hickey is a fashion researcher, engagement designer and party maker. She is interested in how fashion can be used as a tool to connect communities, affirm identities and bring people together. She is a founding member and co-director of The Stitchery Collective, whose collaborative art practice explores fashion as a tool for engagement, space-making and relationship-building. Her personal research is interested in how diverse and marginalised identities can be affirmed and emboldened through fashion. At the moment, Anna primarily works as a public program producer and as director of branding and engagement consultancy, Better Than.

DIY Daisy, also known as Daisy Braid, is a maker, designer and author based on the Gold Coast. Through sharing her vibrant sewing journey online, she aims to motivate and empower others to embark on their own DIY projects. Daisy’s colourful and imaginative approach to creating inspires and encourages others to turn their creative dreams into reality.

Hillary Wall is a self taught artist and the founder of Cork & Chroma studios. Established in 2013 with a classic paint and sip concept, Cork & Chroma has evolved over a decade into a kaleidoscope of creative experiences which inspire connectivity and self expression and Hillary has dedicated herself to fostering spaces where creative fun and imagination thrive.

Hillary recently completed a diploma for art therapy, and champions the transformative power of self-expression, believing that a splash of creativity brings self knowledge, joy and harmony into our lives.

Due to unforEseen circumstances, Rachael isn’t able to join us at PepTalks anymore. 

Rachael Sarra’s vibrant creative practice embodies her experience as a proud mixed race, First Nations woman from Goreng Goreng Country. Driven by a belief that art and design are vital to communication, connection and culture, Rachael invites us to see the world through her eyes with bold colours and dynamic contours. Her distinct contemporary style is resonating around the world, and challenging societal perceptions of Aboriginal art and identity. Rachael is a change-maker. She is redesigning how First Nations businesswomen navigate success while anchoring their business in culture. Building a business bigger than herself, she is committed to significant charitable donations and pro-bono work that has a tangible impact back into the community.