By Luke Voogt
Geelong West artist Janne Kearney has made yet another art prize final following her recent success at an international portrait competition in the UK.
Last month Janne’s painting ’86 made the top 53 in the prestigious BP Portrait Award, London, out of 2500 entries from 87 countries.
“Just to be shortlisted makes me in the top 2 per cent in the world,” the 54-year-old said.
“More than half a million people will see that painting.”
Janne is now chasing a top prize closer to home in Colac’s Corangamarah Art Prize, with two paintings Run and Love.
The competition’s paintings will end up on the walls of a Colac aged care facility, an idea Janne loved.
“It gives them access to some fantastic art that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see.”
Janne taught herself to paint at age 43 despite her lack of formal training.
“I always wanted to be an artist but life just got in the way,” she said.
“I have raised my family and lived life to support everyone else. It’s my time now – I am achieving things in a field I never thought I had any place in.”
Janne grew up the youngest of five children in Norlane and her mother died when she was nine.
“Life was a struggle back then,” she said. “So university just wasn’t an option.”
She became the first female painter and decorator at Ford, where she said she experienced regular sexual harassment and bullying.
Her time there and her “underprivileged background” inspired her artistic success, she said.
“It probably makes me fight for the underdog – bringing attention to gay rights, mental health and the unemployed.
“It’s my way of putting the spotlight of some the people who find it difficult to have a voice.”
Her latest series, Dystopia, explores street art, youth and industrial decay from the backdrop of an abandoned power station.
Janne paints in her home studio, which her husband created out of an old stable in their backyard.
“My husband has been my rock,” she said.
