Maggie Hensel-Brown

Maggie Hensel-Brown is an Australian artist, working predominantly in needle lace techniques. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Newcastle in 2014.

In 2015, Hensel-Brown took a class in Reticella at the annual general conference of the Australian Lace Guild. Since then her practice has been dedicated entirely to lace making. She has travelled and studied needle lace in England, Italy, the United States, the Netherlands, and all around Australia.

Her lace takes techniques from various needle traditions to create contemporary imagery. Each piece of needle lace has been made individually over a period of months of methodical and meditative stitching. Maggie Hensel-Brown’s works respond to a long history of storytelling in needle lace. While most historical lace pieces tell grand biblical tales, or stories about royal lore, these laces illustrate quiet, contemporary moments of frustration, boredom and bliss.

Her works have been exhibited widely throughout Australia and the United States. Most notably in the Lace, Not Lace exhibition at the Hunterdon Art Museum, New Jersey USA, Seeing Red at the Lockup Gallery NSW, Home is more than a Place, Hamilton Gallery VIC, and the Tamworth Textile Triennial in September 2023.

Her works feature in the collections of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney NSW, and The Denver Art Museum in Denver Colorado.

Hensel-Brown also teaches regular classes in person and online and is a frequent educator and panelist at lace making conferences and universities including the Festival of Lace in Sydney, 2021, the Doily Free Zone digital conference in 2021, Wisconsin University in 2021, and Threads of Power at the Bard Graduate Center in New York in 2022.