By Luke Voogt
Archibald Prize winner and new Wallington resident, Janet Dawson, has joined 37 artists in a two-month celebration of women’s abstract art, which began last Saturday.
“To be separated by gender is not something we like to do,” she told the Indy this week, “but this is a historic gallery.”
Dawson won the prestigious portrait prize with a painting of her late husband and playwright Michael Boddy in 1973.
It resides in her brother’s Wallington home, her new place of residence.
“I say good morning to it every morning,” the 82-year-old said.
“After I won the prize, my brother bought it because he was so excited.”
Dawson moved to the seaside town last year following her husband’s death in 2014, after 42 years living reclusively near the tiny NSW town of Binalong.
“My family asked me to come down here, so I did and it’s been fantastic,” she said.
“We’re looking straight out over Barwon Heads from our kitchen window.”
Janet grew up in Melbourne, studying at the National Gallery School in the ’50s before travelling to England, Italy and France as an artist.
But Binalong, where she moved in 1974, remains her favourite place on earth.
“When I was in the country, I yearned for the sea,” she said. “Now I’m at the sea, I yearn for the country.“
Abstraction runs at Geelong Gallery until 7 May and features Dawson’s paintings Lighthouse and Origin of the Milky Way.
She painted the latter in 1964 based on the story of goddess Aphrodite spilling breast milk while feeding the infant Hercules and creating the Milky Way.
Dawson is inspired by everything from Greek fables to “interesting and precise shapes” of dog paw prints at the beach.
Recently, the veteran artist developed an obsession with the “convoluted and beautiful fixtures” of local power poles.
“I keep photographing them and drawing them.”
Dawson was at the gallery’s opening last Friday.
“There were hundreds of people,” she said.
She encouraged locals to come see the “simple beauty of colour, line, form and shape”.
“A really good abstract painting can move you just by its power of expression.“
Melbourne-born artist Lesley Dumbrell is also part of Abstraction.
“It’s an honour to be in this exhibition,” she said.
“A lot of my heroes are going to be in this show – like Grace Crowley – she was someone who I hugely admired when I was an art student.”
Dumbrell recently returned to Australia from “concrete jungle” of Bangkok to see the exhibition.
“I think Geelong’s a really interesting area,” she said. “I’m really impressed with your arts precinct.”
