Louise Hearman facts for kids

Louise Hearman, born in 1963, is an Australian artist from Melbourne. She has loved painting and drawing since she was very young. Louise mainly uses oil paints on a type of board called masonite. Sometimes, she also creates art with pastels and charcoal.

Louise Hearman's Early Life and Education

Louise Hearman went to Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School. This school is in Ringwood, East Victoria. She showed great talent in her art classes there. After high school, she studied at the Victorian College of the Arts. She attended from 1982 to 1984.

Louise Hearman's Art Career Highlights

Louise Hearman first became known in 1986. She spent a year painting a large mural. This mural was inside a concrete dome. It was at the old gymnasium of the Missions to Seamen building. This building is on Flinders Street in Melbourne. She also used this place as her art studio.

In 1991, her art was shown in a solo exhibition. This show was called "The corpreal body". It was held at the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery. In 1993, she was chosen for the Australia Perspecta exhibition. Her work gained more attention in 1999. She was a finalist for the Contempora 5 award.

Her art was also shown at the National Gallery of Australia. This happened in both 2000 and 2005. In 2000, her work was part of "Uncommon World; Aspects of Contemporary Australian Art". In 2005, it was in the "Big Spooks" exhibition. In 2007, her painting Untitled #1158 was chosen. It was shown in Sydney's Open Gallery exhibition. This exhibition featured "leading Australian and international artists".

Louise Hearman has won important art prizes. In 2014, her portrait Bill-1383 won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. In 2016, she won the famous Archibald Prize. This prize was for her portrait of the entertainer Barry Humphries.

What Influences Louise Hearman's Art?

Louise Hearman grew up in Croydon, a suburb. She started painting and drawing when she was young. As a child, she could not travel much. So, she painted the landscapes around her home. These landscapes have inspired many of her artworks since then.

Some art experts have wondered about her influences. Bruce James, an Australian art writer, suggested Clarice Beckett might have influenced her. He wrote about this in The Sydney Morning Herald in 2002. He thought Hearman's interest in strange situations could be linked to Beckett's style.

There was also talk that the TV show The X-Files influenced her. However, Louise Hearman has said this is not true. She explained that she watches very little television. She has not even seen the series.