Brunswick Street Gallery, Small Works Art Prize
7-20 Jan 2023
Take a Look Inside I, 2022, oil on canvas
Take a Look Inside II, 2022, oil on canvas
Third Prize: John Villiers Outback Art Prize - A Sense of Place.
Winton QLD 11 March - 7 May 2023
Trina From Bottle Tree Downs, 2022-23, oil on canvas
Artist Statement: I painted my brave mate Trina from Rolleston, QLD, while she stayed in Brisbane to receive life saving breast cancer treatment late last year. During the sit she shared stories about her life and deep connection with the Australian outback.Trina is the quintessential outback farmer, nature lover, nurse, creative, photographer, wife and mother.
Drawing Festival
Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art QAGOMA, 21st May 2023
Drawing Festival at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane / May 2023 / Photograph: C Baxter, QAGOMA / Image Courtesy: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Drawing Festival at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane / May 2023 / Photograph: C Baxter, QAGOMA / Image Courtesy: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Humans of the Outback
Winton QLD, June 2023
Queensland College of Art students joined students from the Griffith Film School to work together and celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Film in Winton.
A small selection of students studying painting and photography connected with the local community in Winton to capture and tell their stories in a series of portraits coming together in an exhibition installed in shopfront windows along Elderslie St.
Students engaged in meaningful discussions with locals creating new works that preserve and share individual stories from this Outback Community. In consultation with the community and Guwa-Koa Aboriginal elders, as well as with support from Council, students worked collaboratively with local participants, spending time in the community to create meaningful relationships that helped to inform the final artworks.
These artworks capture a productive relationship between emerging artists and regarded locals to celebrate the Winton community through their stories for generations to come. At the conclusion of the Film Festival, the artworks have joined the collection at Waltzing Matilda Centre becoming a legacy for the 150-year celebrations of Winton in 2025. Prints of these artworks will also be displayed on the iconic Spirit of the Outback train travelling between Brisbane and Longreach.
Information courtesy of the LiveArt website https://www.qcaliveart.com.au/portfolio/humansoftheoutback_winton/
Queensland College of Art, Griffith University Public Art Program. This project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance. Program Director: Dr Simon Degroot.
Janice (2023), acrylic on canvas, 76 x 61cm. Photograph: Adam Young / Image Courtesy: Liveart, Queensland College of Art
Statement: Janice is a vibrant, entrepreneurial and community spirited Winton local. The Evert family have owned the local Royal Theatre and are key figures in the opal industry. She has many business interests; however, Janice’s true passion is opal. Her enthusiasm is palpable as she excitedly shares knowledge of all aspects of opal mining, craft, and trade. I most enjoyed hearing Janice explain her appreciation of opal in their natural form, their materialisation from the prehistoric era, and her assertion that each opal is a unique celebration of perfection. Janice and her husband John have pursued many other opportunities throughout the years however, the call of the outback has summoned them back to Winton where they have permanently settled. It has been a privilege to get to know Janice and paint her portrait, and I was compelled to capture her kindness and generous nature.
Credit: Adam Young, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. This project has been made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.
Salon de Refuses, Brisbane Portrait Prize
Petrie Terrace Gallery, Brisbane: 29th September - 29th October
Hosey (2023), oil on canvas, 91 x 71cm
Statement: Karen Hose, commonly known as Hosey, is a dedicated Neonatal Nurse Practitioner in the Neonatal Unit RBWH and Neonatal Retrieval Service and a volunteer for Operation Smile. She is responsible for our Community’s most vulnerable and smallest citizens and, via road and air, meets families from across Queensland during their darkest hours.
I wanted to paint Hosey to acknowledge her integral and ongoing contribution to the Brisbane and greater community and capture the humble, multifaceted woman beyond the scrubs. This includes celebrating her integrity, dry humour and sharp wit, creativity and admirable capacity to hold lightness and depth. She is an exceptional human with strong family values, and I am honoured to say she is my friend.
Brisbane Portrait Prize Opening Night
Figure Drawing - Collaboration with Queensland Ballet Academy & Queensland College of Art
Brisbane Powerhouse: 4th October
From left: Sandy Lidgett, Anna Weston, Chelsea Carkett & Paige Ristevski from the Queensland Ballet Academy
Image courtesy of Bill Platz, Queensland College of Art
Humans of the Outback - Part II
Queensland College of Art, South Brisbane: October 2023
As an extension of the Humans of the Outback Exhibition, artists exhibited an additional two portraits to present at a Brisbane based showing.
Sky (2023), Acrylic on canvas, 65 x 50cm
STATEMENT: Sky
Sky Parra is a QCA graduate, practising artist and co-teacher for the Humans of the Outback project. She is currently pursuing a series of portraits of people wrongfully convicted of crimes and those that advocate for justice, and has exhibited across Australia.
It was really enjoyable painting Sky, and an extra treat to paint a fellow portraitist. Sky consistently brought kindness and lightness, alongside wisdom of portraiture to our group during our trip to Winton. I decided to playfully change Skye’s regular studio attire to a more formal depiction. I suspect this may be revelatory in the years to come, as her future in the world of art is bright.
Finalist: Portia Geach Memorial Award
S.H Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, Sydney. 3rd November - 17th December
“The Portia Geach Memorial Award is Australia’s most prestigious award for portraiture by women artists. The Award is recognised as one of the most important celebrations of the talents and creativity of Australian female portrait painters and has played a major role in developing the profile of the nation’s women artists.
The Award was established by the will of the late Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister, Portia Geach. The non-acquisitive award of $30,000 is awarded by the Trustee for the entry which is of the highest artistic merit, ‘for the best portrait painted from life of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, or the Sciences by any female resident’ who was born in Australia or was British born, or has become an Australian citizen and has resided in Australia in the preceding twelve months”.
STATEMENT: Dr Melinda Laidlaw is a rainforest and climate change ecologist, who has contributed valuable scientific evidence and research on the impacts of climate change and bushfires on the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. For over two decades her roles have included collaborating with the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, Queensland Government, National Parks and Traditional Owners. As part of these ventures, this humble scientist has braved countless hair-raising experiences in the field. Her portfolio extends to leadership at the Queensland Herbarium, and numerous volunteer projects locally and abroad. She also often works from her forest home late into the night.
In addition to recognising Melinda’s distinguished career in this portrait, I wanted to acknowledge her exceptional human qualities. Contemplating this depiction, I realised that her personal and professional attributes were intertwined. Melinda embodies a progressive attitude, and whether it is with the team she leads or an interaction with friends, this quietly spoken woman shows up with kindness, honesty, integrity, a sharp wit and dry sense of humour. The humble trailblazer you see shows us that you can excel in a role where the stakes are high whilst keeping an open heart space.
Finalist: Elaine Bermingham National Watercolour Prize
QCA Galleries, South Brisbane. 30th November - 11th January
The Elaine Bermingham National Watercolour Prize in Landscape Painting is a unique triennial art prize that aims to celebrate excellence and innovation in the watercolour medium. Elaine had a passion for the visual and dramatic arts and saw watercolour painting as an underrated art form. She remained a strong ambassador for the visual and dramatic arts throughout her career, and viewed her pursuit as a benefactor as her own contribution to the arts community.
Internal Landscape III, watercolour & pencil, 39.5 x 29.5cm
STATEMENT: As we near the end of 2023 and at a time of major global unrest, I was compelled to explore the thematic of landscape using an aleatoric approach. I was motivated in part by self-preservation, seeking a reprieve from the unrelenting permeation of climate and environmental disasters, political unrest and the implications and atrocities of war. Watercolour was the ideal medium to allow a plethora of existential thoughts and accompanying images to gradually unfold on the paper. Not only did this induce awe and wonder of the natural world and biographical memories of place, but also allowed a deeper appreciation of the interconnected-ness of all things. In essence, landscape is everywhere, and we can never be truly detached from what occurs around us.