Lisa Kennedy – Australia

Camp Fire with the Elders pastel on paper 75 CM X 90 CM

Born 1963 Melbourne, Australia

Occupation:

Mother, multi-media and cross art form artist

Education:

1989,1990 Began Bachelor of Education, Visual Arts, and Bachelor of Arts: The University of Melbourne, Carlton

2000 Completed Diploma of Art – Visual Art: East Gippsland Institute of TAFE

2001 Completed Post Graduate Diploma in Visual Art: Victorian College of the Arts,

Melbourne.

Media:

Soft pastel combined with story-telling.

Combines 3 dimensional form with sound, music and story-telling.

Currently working with performance, puppet making, story-telling, movement, sound, costume and masks.

Experiences related to art:

Ran workshops in Koorie communities with children and adults, as well as the wider public.

Given talks on experiences relating to writing, art and has completed many commissions for individuals and corporative bodies.

Created own gallery for a time and exhibited the artworks for first book for children; “”Lielle’s Spirit Bird”.

Self-published a booklet of poems, writings and images entitled “Regeneration”; it is about Lisa’s spiritual journey.

Lisa began writing for performance and has directed two school productions and is currently writing a script for a new performance.

Working on creating an open studio/gallery open to be the public in the future.

Honours and awards:

Received two Visual Arts grants and one Writing grant from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board of the Australia Council for the Arts.

Pratt Family Scholarship to complete a Post Graduate Diploma at Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)

Currently working on a project funded by the Australia Council for the Arts a Victorian initiative, in which Lisa is creating and making puppets for an environmental based performance.

Solo exhibitions:

A number of solo exhibitions over the years, including at The Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne, inner city art spaces and regional galleries.

Group exhibitions:

Over the last few years Lisa’s artwork and prints have been exhibited by the East Gippsland Aboriginal Arts Corporation at regional galleries around Gippsland, Dandenong Ranges, Arts Victoria, Koorie Heritage Trust. Prior to this Lisa exhibited work in the Melbourne area in many Koorie group exhibitions.

Important collections:

The Koorie Heritage Trust, Royal Children’s Hospital, Council of Adult Education, Hewitt & Packard and many private individuals.

Artists’ statement:

The artwork I have chosen is from a book I have written and illustrated for my son Nicholas, who was taken from me at the age of eight to live with his father in Melbourne. The grief and pain I felt at being separated from my only child was transformed into a story and twenty-four images which allowed me to express the nurturing, love, guidance and protection which I was unable to give him on a daily basis.

I wanted the story to reflect my son’s early childhood experiences and his Aboriginality, to give him strength and a sense of his own spiritual journey or adventure.

The images portray the environment from the Stezlecki Ranges down to the coastal waters around Wilson’s Promontory; country I feel deeply connected to. It also provides a link to Tasmania where my father’s people came from.

“Nick’s Amazing Journey” was published by The Koorie Heritage Trust in 2001 and it was a project fuelled by the fire of a mothers’ love for her child.