An Interview with Regional Arts WA Artist Of the Month – Painter Jenna Pickering.

In an era where Instagram filters reign supreme, there’s a refreshingly contrarian artist in regional WA, by the name of Jenna Pickering – who finds herself utterly, almost rebelliously, besotted with wrinkles.

Jenna, who last year won two awards at the Lester Prize, has a particular fondness for aging faces, finding beauty where society often seeks to erase it. “Aging is beautiful. There is story in aging. People don’t need to change – society needs to change”, she says.

Jenna‘s portrait of Yinhawangka Elder, Brendon Cook, painted on paperbark, earned her double recognition at the Lester Prize last year – a painting that is now on exhibition at the Cannery Art Centre in Esperance. The painting was her second entry into Australia’s prestigious art prize. In 2022, she also featured a portrait of Australian musician Paul Kelly, which she crafted over two years. “I kept coming back to it, adding more detail, more layers. It wasn’t that it needed two years – I just couldn’t let it go. I wanted to capture every line, every story in his face,” she explains.

From her base in Tom Price – geographically the highest town in WA and home to roughly 3000 people – Jenna has carved out a unique artistic niche, painting hyper-realistic portraits on found objects. It’s an approach born of both artistic vision and environmental conscience. “I think consumerism is stupid,” she says. “Painting on things that are either already in existence and repurposing things is so important for a sustainable society”.

Her canvas choices are as unconventional as they are meaningful – from paperbark tree bark to rusty tin cans found in abandoned mining sites. Each object carries its own narrative before her brush even touches it. The process of discovering these items is also deeply therapeutic for Jenna. “I love going out and finding these pieces, taking my time to sand them back carefully. It’s not just about creating art – it’s about giving new life to forgotten things,” she explains. Speaking about a recent piece painted on an old beer can, she says; “The face I painted has a story – and so does the old rusty tin can. The portrait carries the subject’s narrative while the object holds its own history. Together, they create something entirely new”.

Her subjects are carefully chosen – Neil Finn from Crowded House, Don Walker from Cold Chisel. She has a particular affinity for Australian faces, especially those that carry the weight of years. A latest project involves painting a local Elder from Tom Price, adding to her growing collection of portraits that celebrate rather than hide the marks of time. She also has Geoffrey Rush on her wish list to paint.

But it’s not just Jenna‘s art that’s catching attention. Her social media presence, particularly her video content, has earned her a devoted following of over 73k fans who tune in for her uniquely Australian brand of humour. “When reels became a thing I jumped on that train. And I think I gained a following because I’m weird and I don’t care”.

Her posts offer glimpses into life in regional WA, complete with rural parties, the intense desert heat, and persistent flies. The self-proclaimed “weird kid” who would roll up at school with long socks, uneven piggy tails, and wearing a tutu has transformed her quirky personality into content that resonates far beyond the Pilbara, attracting followers from around the globe.

“When you scroll right back in my feed, it’s just photos but when I started creating reels and doing skits, I gained personality – people like artists because they are human and we’re lucky to be able to project our personalities as well as our artwork across our profiles”, she says.

These days, when she’s not hunting for her next canvas in the scrubland, balancing her role as a Community Development Officer at the Shire of Ashburton,or creating content that captures the essence of outback life, she’s thinking about her next subject. “Thinking of people to paint keeps me up at night,” she admits.

As for what’s next for this Tom Price artist with a penchant for painting on scavenged surfaces? She’s currently on a residency in Greece where one suspects she’ll find herself spoiled for artistic choice with plenty of weathered materials and faces to inspire her.

Jenna’s awarded Lester Prize painting can be viewed at the Cannery Arts Centre in Esperance, as part of the Lester Prize Touring Exhibition, from Friday 6 June – Sunday 20 July 2025

If you don’t already follow Jenna, you can find her on Instagram @jennapickering.art