Contemporary Realist Painter
The Naked & Nude Art Prize Exhibition is on till Sunday, 15 October at the Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree. Still time to make it if you can. It’s a wonderful exhibition!
I have a digital oil painting “See Me” in the exhibition, and you can view the exhibition booklet here showcasing all the paintings.
I was at the opening night and it was jam packed and wonderful to have been there to see all the paintings in person.
Thrilled that I’m a finalist in the Naked & Nude Art Prize with my digital oil painting “See Me”!
Congrats to all the finalists and looking forward to seeing the exhibition at the Manning Regional Art Gallery. The exhibition runs from 2 Sept – 15 Oct.
Artist Statement
I created See Me in April this year after a 1.5 year period that was extremely difficult for my family. I had to let my art practice go while I managed the situation.
See Me is finally having the time to refocus on myself and my art practice. I was ready to create and focus on what I love.
It was very important to me that the model have a strong and direct gaze, drawing the viewer in and challenging them to see “her” – directly.
The nakedness of the model represents confidence – but at the same time guardedness. Yes, I want you to See Me, but I will choose who I let “See Me”.
I was a finalist in the Basil Sellers Art Prize with my oil painting of Charmian Frend – “Tough Little Nugget”. The exhibition ran from 8 October to 20 November 2022.
Charmian Frend is an open water and channel swim coach. Charm is also my open water swim coach. I painted her while she was preparing to break the world ice swim record in July 2022, swimming at least 3.75km in water that must stay under 5*C the whole way – and at the same time, she was undertaking a fundraising campaign for pain research. Unfortunately due to Covid and travel limitations, it was not meant to be.
It was exciting to learn that Tough Little Nugget was the first painting to sell on opening night, and thrilled that it has a new home with one of Moruya’s residents, a town located on the far south coast of New South Wales.
