Lianne Gough was born in 1954 in Perth, Western Australia. She was educated in Perth, Sydney, Chicago (USA), Canberra, Geelong and New York (USA). In 1976 she received a Diploma of Art and Design (Gordon Institute of Technology, Geelong), and in 1977 was awarded an Arts Council Scholarship for postgraduate studies at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture (USA). Since then, she has lived in Geelong, Australia and has continued her painting practice, doing commissioned works for public and private collectors, exhibiting and teaching.
In 2007Glorus Fallen, her painted montage of the faces of Gallipoli veterans' identity photographs (black-and-white photographs held by the Australian War Memorial) won the Australian National Gallipoli Art Prize. 'By manipulating the colours and depth of each panel the artist did not merely reproduce a gallery of likenesses but created a picture that was aesthetically engaging and contemporary in outlook.' John McDonald (Judge, Gallipoli Art Prize Competition)
Although oil painting has been her medium of choice, she has experimented with watercolour, pastels and various printing techniques. Gough's paintings have a singular vision. There is emotional impact and vigour in the uncompromising way they deal with the physical reality of bodies, both as objects and in relation to environment and each other. Her paintings look at these relationships without attempting to manipulate the viewer's reaction. In this sense, the bodies and faces become their own subject matter, alerting the viewer to vastness of meaning yet emptied of easy sentiment. Here they are - what do we do with it? It is the substance of the groupings of people in a family photograph; the symbiotic relationship between artist and subject; the portrait of a man facing his own death, the dynamic linework in her portraits of children.
Gough's drawing and brushwork is not afraid to be simple - but there are 'bones' in the drawing and her colour is masterly and bold. Neither overworked nor underworked, this is figurative painting in full life, constantly evolving. I pressed her to name her influences and she said 'Picasso'. When you look, you can see why.
