About the presenter: Eddie Normington and Feast Festival

Eddie Normington is an interdisciplinary artist living and making on Kaurna land in SA. They love to explore queer concepts, theory, and lived experiences through their work. Whether the works are illustration, animation, or mixed media, Eddie aims to illustrate the internal feelings for others to connect with.

Being selected for the opportunity to illustrate the cover work for the 2026 Feast Festival with the theme of “joy” felt serendipitous. What both the festival and this specific theming represents aligns with Eddie’s approach of creating work that provides insights into queer living for those outside of the community that are not centered or defined by suffering. The cover itself depicts the feeling of celebratory happiness and the beauty of taking up space as queer folk, as it can be a tangible force shared with each other within the community and throughout this festival.

Eddie won the Helpmann Academy People’s Choice Award (2024) for their Honours interactive illustrative work Affirmation Avatars from their Visualising Gender Euphoria series. Their work has also been shown in various exhibitions around Australia such as their solo exhibition Growing a Body with the Guildhouse (2025), two Squish Squash Fringe Festival exhibitions (2025-2026), and more.

Website: https://eddienormington.ju.mp/

Image Description: Digital painting of teal and pink coloured figures resting with sparkly pink gymnastics balls. There is a pink glittery swirl moving through and around the figures, with a dark background.