Harriet Mills (Salan Arts)

CIAF 2026 CATAPULT Professional Development Award Recipient.
Proudly supported by Cairns Regional Council.

Harriet Mills is an emerging Torres Strait Islander artist with connections to Naghigal, Kulkalgal and Badhugal countries who received the CIAF Proppa Deadly Award at the Energy Exhibition for her work Ngalpun Kazil Gidtha (Our Childrens Stories) 2023. Alongside three other First Nations women artists, she was the recipient of the Curator’s Award resulting in an exhibition, Voices of the Past, at the Courthouse Gallery in August 2024. One of her works, The Pet Crocodile, featured as the basis of the 2024 Cairns Regional Council NAIDOC calendar. Since then, Harriet has continued to create and exhibit, most recently at the Flame 2026 exhibition at the Tanks Arts Centre in March. Harriet’s preferred medium is ink on paper, where she creates, by hand, works reminiscent of lino prints associated with Torres Strait Island art. Through these works, she tells the story of who she is and where she comes from.

CIAF 2026 Art Awards. Photograph: Blakground Productions.