Bio

About Joanne Braddy

For over 15 years, Brisbane-based visual artist Joanne Braddy has used her art to process and communicate her lived experiences with mental illness, chronic pain, and disability. Her practice spans painting, ceramics, and stop-motion video, moving fluidly between mediums while maintaining a deeply personal and expressive style.

Joanne’s work is both raw and universal — offering visibility, validation, and connection to those living with mental illness. From character-driven paintings to evocative clay figurines and animated storytelling, her art is process-driven, emotionally charged, and rooted in resilience. Rather than striving for perfection, she embraces honesty and vulnerability, creating works that reflect survival, isolation, quiet hope, and strength.

Across her career, Joanne has exhibited extensively in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, with solo shows in both Brisbane and Melbourne. Her practice has been recognised through numerous awards and commendations, including the Brisbane Festival Art Highly Commended Award (2024), Moreton Bay Regional Council’s Merit Award, and the Brian Burke 25th Anniversary Award. She has been a finalist in the Lethbridge Art Award, the Brisbane Portrait Prize, the Lester Prize, and the Rotary Art Spectacular, and in 2025 received a Highly Commended in the Moreton Bay Art Award as well as a Continue Creating Grant from Moreton Bay Regional Council.

At the heart of Joanne’s practice is a desire to break down stigma and spark conversation around anxiety, depression, and lived experiences of struggle. Through passion, perseverance, and courage, her work extends beyond self-expression, becoming a space of solidarity and healing for others.