As Premier of Victoria, the Honourable Jeff Kennett AC has had an amazing political career. Upon leaving public office he didn’t rest on his laurels but proceeded to become an advocate for Mental Health through his founding of the Beyond Blue organisation. Under his guidance and energy for 17 years it has grown to become a world leader in raising awareness of depression, anxiety and suicide prevention.
I selected The Honourable Jeff Kennett AC as my subject, not because of his illustrious political career, but because of his role as the founder of the national mental health advocacy group Beyond Blue. While Jeff and I are not simpatico in all of our views, we both strongly believe in dissolving the stigma associated with depression so that it can be treated like any other illness. His vision for an organisation mandated to support patients, carers, mentors, clinicians, and institutions has transformed the mental health industry in Australia and given people an avenue to seek help without prejudice or judgement.
This introspective portrait of Jeff Kennett, was created using “pokerwork”, a hand drawn pyrographic technique to burn the subject’s likeness into the plywood, breaking the portrait down into a collection of tones and individual burn marks. I select my subjects from people whose inner strength has given them resiliency in the face of mental health challenges. I hopes that by highlighting people actively working through depression, my art will help to correct misconceptions about this debilitating illness.