Queensland Academies Creative Industries Campus is delighted to welcome 2021 alumna Hannah back to campus as the exhibiting artist in our Archive exhibition space, located on Blamey Street outside the QACI building.
After graduating from QACI in 2021, Hannah completed a Bachelor of Visual Art at Queensland College of Art and Design (QCAD) in 2025 and has since continued building a vibrant creative practice that spans painting, photography and exhibition curation. Her latest body of work explores the Korean concept of nunchi—a culturally embedded practice of reading emotional and social cues—and invites viewers to engage with ideas of identity, belonging and emotional restraint through atmospheric, fractured architectural spaces.
Returning to QACI as an exhibiting artist marks a significant full-circle moment for Hannah, whose artistic journey was shaped by her time at the school and the teachers who encouraged her creative ambitions. In the following interview, she reflects on the inspiration behind her exhibition, the impact of QACI and the IB on her artistic practice, and the advice she would offer current students considering a future in the creative industries.
Your exhibition explores the Korean concept of nunchi. What first drew you to this idea, and how has it shaped the artworks in this exhibition?
Nunchi is a Korean concept that's difficult to translate directly into English. It's less of an idea and more of a culturally embedded way of moving through the world. Its literal translation is ‘eye measure’, but it’s really about reading the room, paying attention to subtle emotional cues and social dynamics before acting.
I've always been interested in how much of Asian communication is delivered through emotional restraint. For instance, care is frequently shown indirectly, and conversations of hardships or feelings like homesickness particularly within immigrant families are suppressed or expressed indirectly. Those subtleties became something I wanted to build into my paintings, creating disjointed spaces that reveal how the subjects exist within that world. In order to understand the work, the audience has to "read the room" rather than simply read the figure and they unknowingly practise nunchi themselves.
You recently completed a Bachelor of Visual Art at QCAD and now work at a film lab specialising in photography. How have these experiences influenced your creative practice and the way you approach making art?
Studying at QCAD taught me to think about painting as both a material and conceptual practice. I became interested in how paintings operate beyond the image itself, how audiences move through an exhibition, and how context shapes the experience of understanding the work. That way of thinking eventually led me to use nunchi not only as the conceptual basis of my paintings, but also as a framework to curate my own duo exhibition in Grey Street Gallery titled Nunchi, where Lois Kim and I transformed the gallery into a metaphorical Asian-Australian household.
Working with film has influenced my practice in a completely different way. Film has an honesty to it: it records moments with all their inconsistencies, accidents, and limitations intact. That way of seeing has definitely seeped into my everyday life that I’m not sure how to articulate yet, but I notice myself paying closer attention to fleeting moments that make the moment feel right.
How did your time at QACI help shape you as an artist? Are there any teachers, projects or experiences that continue to influence your work today?
Throughout university, I’ve constantly referenced my teachers Dr Porter and Mrs Bashar, whether that’s in practice, thinking about their advice, trying to mirror them or be more like them, how much they’ve encouraged me, how much I aspire to be like them— they made an immeasurable impact on my teenage brain. I'm certain my trajectory would have been very different without them as women I idolise and see as role models.
I was a student of Mrs Bashar in Year 12. Like most teenagers, I occasionally had moments of dramatic teenage angst, and I distinctly remember bringing one of those embarrassing tantrums to her in the form of an angry email.
Rather than indulging my teenage angst, she met it with a too calm to entertain my teenage angst type of confidence that essentially said, “Girl, you’ll be fine. Keep it pushing”. At the time I probably wanted more sympathy, but looking back, that was exactly what I needed. There's something incredibly valuable about having a teacher who believes in you enough not to let you get stuck in your own self-doubt.
Academically, I didn't fully appreciate until university just how much the IB had prepared me to think. Subjects with a strong emphasis on critical analysis, such as Psychology HL, taught me to evaluate evidence, challenge assumptions and consider multiple perspectives rather than accepting ideas at face value. Even more surprisingly, Theory of Knowledge has become something I reference constantly. Reading academic texts and engaging with contemporary research I realised TOK had already familiarised me with the kinds of questions and ways of thinking that underpin academic inquiry. That habit of thinking critically and holistically that TOK trained has become one of the most valuable skills I've carried into both my artistic practice and research today.
What does it mean to return to QACI to exhibit your work in the Archive space, this time as an exhibiting artist rather than a student?
I remember being in Year 10 thinking I'd never make it through the IB. Everyone older than me seemed impossibly grown-up, and when you're immersed in a school full of creative teenagers, it can feel like your entire world is made up of angsty teenage creatives. Every problem feels enormous because, at that age, it's the biggest thing you've ever experienced.
Sometimes I still walk past QACI students and overhear conversations that transport me back there. It reminds me that we were all navigating the same insecurities, wondering whether we'd ever figure things out. Coming back to exhibit feels a little like returning to that younger version of myself. If I could tell her anything, it would simply be that things do work out even if not in the way you imagined.
Ironically, when I graduated from QACI, I wasn't planning on pursuing art at all. I enrolled in architecture before unexpectedly running into Mrs Bashar at Woolworths one day. She looked at me and basically said, "Why on earth are you doing that?" It was such a characteristically direct moment that made me stop and seriously reconsider what I actually wanted. Soon afterwards, I changed paths and enrolled in visual art.
So, above all else, returning to exhibit in the Archive feels like a continuation of really long conversation I’m having with Mrs Bashar… a sort of full-circle moment where I get the chance to say thank you, but I suppose this exhibition is also, in its own way, me finally admitting, "Okay... Fine… you were right."
What advice would you give to current QACI Visual Art students who are considering pursuing a career or further study in the creative industries?
When I was at QACI, I don't think I realised there was an entire contemporary art ecosystem right here in Brisbane. I imagined becoming an artist meant making work in a studio somewhere, but there's a whole network of galleries, artist-run initiatives, curators, writers, conservators, installers, photographers and arts workers who all contribute to the contemporary art culture in Brisbane.
My biggest piece of advice is to immerse yourself in that world as early as possible. Go to exhibition openings, talk to artists, volunteer at galleries, visit artist-run spaces. You'll quickly realise the art world is much more broader than it first appears.
I'd also encourage students to curate exhibitions amongst themselves whenever they have the opportunity. Some of the most valuable experiences come from creating projects with your peers rather than waiting for formal opportunities. Those collaborations become the foundations of your artistic community, and often the people you're studying alongside now will become the artists, curators and collaborators you continue working with years later.
Perhaps most importantly, don't feel pressured to have your career mapped out immediately. Even during my first year of university, I had no idea how many different pathways existed within the arts. It's an incredibly diverse field, and there are countless ways to build a meaningful creative career. Stay curious, keep showing up, and allow yourself to discover opportunities you didn't even know existed.
What's next for you? Are there any upcoming projects, exhibitions or creative goals you're excited to share?
Right now, I'm focused on continuing to build a sustainable creative practice while exploring new ways of working across painting and photography. I'm currently developing a photography book and hope to take new directions in my personal and commercial projects. Following Nunchi, Lois Kim and I are also planning to collaborate on another exhibition.
As Hannah's reflections make clear, her journey from QACI student to exhibiting artist has been shaped by curiosity, resilience and a deep commitment to creative practice. Her exhibition is not only a showcase of her evolving artistic voice, but also a reminder of the power of education, mentorship and community in helping young artists discover their path.
We are incredibly proud to welcome Hannah back to QACI and to celebrate her achievements through this exhibition in the Archive space. We encourage our students, alumni and wider community to visit the exhibition on Blamey Street and experience Nunchi for themselves.
Thank you, Hannah, for generously sharing your work, your reflections and your journey with our community. We look forward to following the next chapter of your artistic career and welcoming you back to QACI again in the future.