Luana Towney is a proud Palawa / Wiradjuri woman living in lutruwita with her family. A muka nawnta – salt water sister, her cultural connections run deep and strong. Luana is a contemporary Aboriginal artist and her creative practice connects ancient cultural practices (including shelling, shell and echidna quill jewellery and basket weaving) with contemporary art practices (including painting with acrylics, sewing possum and echidna cloaks and burning designs on them). Luana is also a writer and has published several children’s books, including Muwinina Country, which was published in 2022. She was the recipient of the Emerging Tasmanian Aboriginal Writers Award in 2019, the Kerry Gilbert Reed Poetry Prize in 2018 and presented an ambitious public art installation through ngayapi niakara a partnership between the TAC and Constance ARI supported by Hobart City Council (the content of which was used to create Muwinina Country).

In addition to her creative pursuits, Luana has also worked as an Aboriginal Education Worker for five years and as a Pregnancy Support Worker at the Aboriginal Health Service.

Luana takes commissions on all her work and can present her pieces in schools, such as paintings and skins, with explanations of the stories and techniques they hold.

Luana was the Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the year in 2015, and in 2021 she completed a public art installation at the maternity section of the Royal Hobart Hospital.