Janny Grant has been selected as the winner of the inaugural Inner West Creative Network merchandise competition, celebrated for her inventive and deeply intuitive artistic approach. Based in Sydney’s Inner West, Janny’s work emerges from experimental processes, upcycling, and a playful communion with the natural and man-made worlds. Her winning design features a stitched thought bubble, graphic patterned text, and her signature mysterious punk bird heads, capturing the creative spirit and diversity of makers and shakers across the Inner West. We are thrilled to recognise Janny’s unique visual language and congratulate her on this well-deserved achievement.

Congratulations on being the winner of the Inner West Creative Network‘s design merchandise competition. Your design cleverly incorporates within a stitched thought bubble, some graphic patterned text and mysterious punk bird heads. Firstly, can you please tell us why the birds?
The birds represent all manner of makers and shakers in the Inner West. I’ve been drawing variations of these quirky birds for many years now, and I’m chuffed to see them now have their moment in the sun.

More generally, explain what about the IWCN inspired your design?
As a proud Inner Westie, when I’m not creating in my Lilyfield studio I love going to open days, workshops, galleries, arty parties and the like. I have a good feel for what’s going on and I’d like to think my design represents and reflects the excellent and diverse range of artisan crafts being made in the hood.

What does winning this competition mean to you?
More than you can imagine. To know my design was chosen as the winner is both gratifying and affirming. As artists we can go through frustrating dry spells of entering comps and not making the cut, so I see this win as breaking the drought.

As you may be aware, there were concerns expressed by some artists about the competition. For you as an artist, what would you say are the ethical principles that should inform such competitions?
To me, art competitions represent opportunity. Simply put, if I feel I have a strong idea I will enter, while other competitions I will let slide by. I don’t see the time taken to create competition entries as a waste, as it often springboards to something else. I guess you could say it’s about momentum. Making art nurtures my being and keeps me fresh.

Your describe your practice as straddling the realms of fine art, artisan craft and graphic design. Does each inform the other, and if so, how?
Yes very much. The Newtown Art Seat 2022 is a good example of my work ‘crossing the streams’. It started out as a cool lockdown craft, and after many months of French knitting in my comfy chair I had amassed a sizeable stash of soft colourful French knitted ropes. From there it was a natural progression to ‘playtime’ - photoshoots of flat lays on the dining table, experimenting with offbeat colour combinations and tactile curves. This in turn led to the creation of a nice collection of deep etched images, ready for the digital realm. This then  inspired my submission for the Newtown Art Seat, as well A3 fine art prints and A6 cards. My usual process is to make the art work, photograph it, then these pics may inspire or be used directly in my Graphic Design work.

In your work you use repetition of organic shapes and tight colour palettes. Are you trying to use human ideas of order to highlight the seeming randomness found in nature?
Not really, I notice and appreciate patterns in nature. I find them very inspiring, which in turn influences my aesthetic, the look and feel. My eye has always been drawn to the repetition of organic shapes, combined with many years working and creating as a graphic designer has also influenced my work.

You often incorporate natural and human-made materials within sculptural forms. How do you make them speak to each other?
As a selective hoarder of treasures from both the natural and man-made world, anything that works as a stand-alone object of beauty, or a collection of similar objects, such as wish bones and cork, is up for consideration. An idea will form of how certain pieces could work together and express an idea. From there, you could say ‘it’s down to the wire’ – wire is a great medium for meshing all the pieces together, and can also be quite beautiful when used in an organic way. I aim to constantly innovate through my art and I love pushing the possibilities of materials.

You are a master of the craft of French knitting and incorporated it in your ‘The Warmest Hug’ design for the Newtown Art Seat. It’s a good example of your desire to foster community connection. What feedback did you get about this public art work?
It was warmly embraced. Especially as we were not allowed to touch or hug throughout the peak Covid years of 2020 -2021. Just about everyone I spoke to felt some degree of sadness and hug deprivation, so when my design launched on the art seat in the Winter of 2022, it provided the little spark of joy we needed at that point in time.

You say your chosen mediums are handmade crafts, stitching, weaving and spiritual offerings. Can you elaborate on what you mean by ‘spiritual offerings’ and how this informs your work?
I connect with and channel nature spirit through my art. As an artist I cycle between days of active art making, afternoons roaming around exploring, collecting and connecting, and other quiet times of assemblage and bricolage in my art garden where I have my ‘altar of gratitude’ atop an old oak dresser. I enjoy placing offerings such as flowers, shells and curios, moving my treasures around in pleasing combinations as I reflect on this very fortunate life. This practise feeds my soul and inspires me to keep creating.