Behind the Artwork with Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson
We are honoured to have collaborated with iconic Australian artists Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson on our latest Creator Series release, Australian Opal Gin. This gin was created in collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia to celebrate their Know My Name initiative, a transformative national program of exhibitions and partnerships dedicated to increasing the visibility of women artists. By celebrating their diverse contributions to our cultural life, the project aims to achieve true gender equity across Australia's arts sector.
We sat down with Jenny and Linda to hear more about this special release.
This collaboration gin features art from Jenny Kee's Oz Opal Scarf and Linda Jackson's Wildflower Tunic in the national collection - can you take us back to when you were creating these iconic works and why you feel like they still translate today?
JENNY: I think it’s the power of our creativity together. The scarf [Oz Opal Scarf] was created for the National Gallery opening in 1982, and it’s really a love letter to the Australian environment – all its colours and hues. Linda’s Wildflowers are also a love letter to the beautiful landscape, and when brought together they just sing. Our collaborations are rooted in a creative powerful connection that transcends time.
LINDA: Jenny's scarf was created for the National Gallery when it opened in the early 1980s, and Wildflower was created in the mid-1970s, so it’s incredible to see both artworks like this together in 2026. Though, I think that it’s great when you really can’t tell when an artwork was created, when it transcends time. I created the Wildflower Tunic before we were getting works screen printed, I was just starting to do something like this, and it was my way of making pictures. It’s interesting to see that Archie Rose picked these works for the label!
Can you speak more to why you think your works coexist so well together? Just like how they effortlessly come together in this label.
LINDA: I think because they’re different. Jenny and I do have quite different art, and the Archie Rose team really made it work together. This is the joy of collaborating, the fact that choosing to put us together with works from the national collection, it’s all a creative collaboration that just works.
JENNY: Because we do! We came together as a creative force early in our careers, and it was so magnetic and powerful. Like Linda said, the magic is in the difference, united in our love of this country’s nature and colour.
You've been friends and collaborators for over 50 years! What is the secret to maintaining a creative soul-connection through the whirlwind moments in the industry?
LINDA: Well we met in 1974, and our friendship really started from that minute. It’s always been about creativity and respect for each other’s ways of working. Even when we went off separately after collaborating for many years, there was always a deep friendship and deep respect for each other.
I also think it’s nice that we were never trying to be the same, and we acknowledged that there is a creativity that is independent from each other. We didn’t need to be like each other because we are completely different, so the way we were able to work together is awesome really. I closed my studio in 1992, but we’ve been lucky to be involved with other creative collaborations together over the years. It's amazing, we love getting together.
JENNY: We really are so deeply connected, and we always have been connected, in this world and in this time, we just exploded. That connection has lasted many lifetimes and will continue to in other lifetimes - it’s a karmic connection, we’re soul sisters. No matter where we are, we’re drawn into each other. I feel honoured that I've had a Linda Jackson in my life.
We’d love for you to speak to your shared appreciation for the Australian landscape and how it shapes your art. How has your friendship changed the way you see the Australian landscape? Do you find yourselves noticing the same colours or textures?
LINDA: When we came together in 1974, we would go bush together and adventure in nature. I was studying photography, so she became my model, my muse, and I’d photograph her in the landscape. It became a form of meditating in the landscape. Oftentimes, this was at Bondi and Tamarama and Bronte, I found it all so beautiful. In fact, I got to travel quite a bit but I never wanted to go off and live elsewhere, I wanted to be here in Australia with our beautiful culture and land. Actually, I’ve travelled more around Australia than I have worldwide, it’s just so dense and culturally rich.
JENNY: I think we were always being inspired by things in nature, and we evolved out of each other. Linda can see faces in trees, so she taught me that. Really, I was a girl from Bondi and going into the bush with Linda was beautiful, the way we interpreted it differently and came together creatively. Our little jaunts in nature were always great, our props were nature.
Archie Rose is a big advocate of the National Gallery’s’s Know My Name initiative, and we know you both are too. Can you speak to some of the female artists who influenced you and what this program means to you?
LINDA: It’s been extraordinary. There are female artists from over 100 years ago that aren't acknowledged, and we get to discover them in an even bigger way [through this initiative]. The fact that the exhibition has travelled and gained more interest in acknowledging artists from those days, it’s been amazing. Our recent exhibition with Sonia Delaunay was specifically pretty special actually, being inspired by her in the early days around 1975-77, and then seeing our [Linda & Jenny’s] artworks together with Delaunay’s, that was really emotional and brought back a lot of amazing memories.
JENNY: I truly think the National Gallery has some of the best art in Australia, they were totally with us in 1982 and they have been advocating female artists ever since. Dr Nick Mitzevich is a fantastic Director and it’s a wonderful institution that stands for what it is. Through the Gallery and the Know My Name initiative, female artists who have been historically sidelined are actively acknowledged and there is a deep respect for all of their artists.
There are so many powerful female artists from every background and culture that exist here [in Australia]. Some examples include the beauty of the Lindy Lee sculpture, Ouroboros and Eran by Thancoupie (Dr Gloria Fletcher AO), Dhaynagwidh/Thaynakwith people - in the National Sculpture Garden, both female artists' works standing there amongst the gumtrees. Nature is feminine and it's a feeling of power, two strong amazing sculptures coming out of the earth standing tall, it’s truly a testament to the National Gallery. Sonia Delaunay was, of course, our [Linda and Jenny’s] greatest inspiration, so it was a full circle moment when we were honoured together in the National Gallery show. Also, Margaret Preston was an incredible influence on me as an artist.
In honour of International Women’s Day being right around the corner, what is one change you’d most like to see in the art world?
LINDA: I see that more things are happening for women in creative fields; there's more younger women across art, painting, fashion, films, behind the scenes and various other creatives who are just doing and creating with fewer boundaries, which is amazing. The fact that there's a more extraordinary variety of exhibitions in regional and indigenous communities is great, and I’d like to see more of that.
JENNY: I love to see the flourishing of all regional art precincts, and I want to see this grow more and more. Indigenous culture has always been at the forefront of art, they are the greatest artists in this country, so may that continue to grow and flourish. We need strong regional collections all around Australia.
A nod to the Australian landscape, this dry gin features Dorrigo Pepperleaf and Sunrise Lime. What is your favourite way to enjoy a gin?
LINDA: Always a gin and tonic with friends, that's why it's going to be an extra special day to enjoy this gin with our artwork on it!
JENNY: Long and tall and light!
