Born and raised in Fremantle, Western Australia, Janelle Burger is one of the many Australian creatives who have made the move to Paris. Known for her colourful and culturally modern creative artworks, Burger is a renowned creative within both Australia and the French capital.

With Burger's work spanning across everything from supermarket murals to magazine covers, the talented artist is on the rise to becoming one of the Indigenous communities' most celebrated artists.

When it comes to creativity and inspiration Burger is certainly not lacking. With the creative's passion for art stemming from a young age, the ease at which she creates artistic pieces comes quite naturally.

"My passion for art began to flourish during my early years in Fremantle. I was fortunate to grow up in a community that celebrated creativity, and my mum encouraged me to explore my artistic side," she said.

"I remember my first art class in primary school back in year three.

"I remember our teacher giving us chunks of clay to make our own Van Gogh-inspired sunflower. This ceramic sunflower lived until I was 16 (it sadly broke) but that memory always stuck in my mind, and it might have been my first "ah ha" artistic moment."

When it comes to her move to Paris, Burger admits that after meeting her partner on a solo holiday, the decision to move there was made easy.

"I met my French partner while I was on my solo European holiday back in 2008, I decided after that trip to move to Europe," she said.

"I worked a few jobs and saved up enough to make the decision to leave home, and I'm still here 15 years later."

Whilst she may be far from home, Burger said it is not hard to stay connected to her Noongar and Sicilian culture.

"I don't find it hard to keep my culture alive while I'm far from home. I'm Noongar and Sicilian and both cultures are always alive in me no matter where in the world I am", she said.

"I must admit keeping in touch with current affairs is hard. Trying to stay up to date with the news in Australia, Italy and France is a lot of work. I try to visit home every few years but because of the distance, it can be hard. The older I get the more jet lag kills me."

Whilst Burger has worked on a series of standout pieces and projects, she does have a few personal favourites.

"I loved working on the Frankie magazine cover for their Summer issue last year, the team at Frankie were such nice gals and made work not feel like work at all," she said.

"Also the recent cover for Instyle was a fun experience, and the underwear collection for Nala was a career highlight. I put them in my top 5."

Similar to most artists Burger shares that it is the process of putting yourself out there – as a creative – and trying new things, where you will truly grow and develop.

"Never stop creating, and keep trying until you've had enough, know your limits," she said.

"Not all of us make it but get out there and try because you never know what may happen."

When raising the topic of Indigenous culture and how it is perceived overseas, Burger shares that she has found there to be little education and knowledge surrounding First Nations people and culture in both Paris and France.

"To be honest I find that hardly anyone knows anything about our culture. I'm not sure if that is because they aren't learning it in school or people just generally don't care", she said.

"They (French locals) do know we are the First Nations people and we had a genocide, but anything after that I don't think they know much at all, unless they have visited Australia."

Burger is also hoping to see a shift in Australia's education system, with the hopes of more progression towards cultural programs, initiatives and learnings.

"For sure the education system needs to change not only overseas but in Australia. I remember when I was in high school all we learnt about was Captain Cook and other bush rangers, nothing about our culture or history, which is a shame because it's such an interesting culture," she said.

With plans to branch out even further in 2024, Burger reveals that her artistic works are soon to go from canvas to clothing.

"I have a few projects that I can't speak about but I am working super slowly on my own collection of homewares and clothing", Burger told Style Up.

"It probably won't happen until next year (2024) because I'm still in the early days with absolutely everything."

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