Felicity Chapman turns fish waste into First Nations wearable art

Whitsundays artist Felicity Chapman is transforming discarded barramundi skins into fish leather and wearable art, showing how cultural creativity, sustainability and local enterprise can meet in unexpected ways.

Working from north Queensland, Ms Chapman prepares fish skins that would otherwise be treated as seafood waste, cleaning, tanning and shaping them into a material that can be used in fashion and art. She told the ABC her goal is to give the skins a new life as wearable art.

The practice draws inspiration from Indigenous communities in the Northern Hemisphere, where fish leather techniques have long histories, while adapting the process to the humidity and conditions of Queensland. That adaptation is important because sustainable materials are never just technical; they are shaped by climate, culture, labour and local knowledge.

Fish leather offers an alternative story about waste. In many coastal and regional economies, seafood processing creates by-products that are thrown away even though they still hold strength, texture and beauty. Turning skins into art can reduce waste, create new income streams and invite audiences to think differently about what materials are valued.

For First Nations artists, wearable art can also carry story. Garments and accessories are not simply decorative objects; they can express connection to waterways, species, family knowledge and the responsibilities that come with using natural resources respectfully.

Ms Chapman’s work sits within a growing First Nations fashion and design movement that is gaining national attention. Designers and makers are using textiles, weaving, natural dyes, digital prints and sculptural forms to assert identity while building businesses on their own terms.

The appeal of fish leather is partly its surprise, but its deeper significance lies in the values behind it. It asks what happens when materials are not dismissed as rubbish, when creativity begins with care, and when fashion is grounded in relationship to place. From a strip of barramundi skin, a bigger conversation about sustainability and culture begins.

The work is strongest when understood as more than a novelty material. It sits at the meeting point of cultural responsibility, sustainable design and regional enterprise, asking whether waste from one local industry can become value in another.