Moreton Bay artists shine in 2024 Brisbane Portrait Prize

Four Moreton Bay artists are among the 64 finalists in this year’s Brisbane Portrait Prize.

They were chosen from more than 575 entries.

In its sixth year, the competition’s finalists will be vying across nine categories for a combined $90,000 in prize money, including the highly coveted $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Prize.

Brisbane Portrait Prize chair Anna Reynolds says she’s thrilled with the quality of works submitted this year.

“We have seen some wonderful works entered,” Anna says.

“I’m constantly amazed at the artistic talent we have here in Brisbane. The judges had a very tough task.”

The finalists’ exhibition is at the State Library of Queensland for the first time.

“What we see in the entries is snapshot of contemporary concerns,” Anna says.

“This year, themes include navigating life as a father or a mother, the fragility of life, the nature of memory, and the impact of screens on young people.

“More broadly this year, we see artists look to the past and the future.

“Some reference the greats of Renaissance art, while others critique how AI impacts the creative realm.

“Some depict it as a threat, and others employ it as a tool which extends the creative conversation.”

Amanda Grosse

Emerging commercial photographer, Aboriginal artist and Burpengary resident Amanda Grosse’s work Gratitude in Growth captures Brisbane model Emma Cain.

They worked together on the concept for the portrait, aiming to convey the isolation and vulnerability that comes from emotional disruption in a person’s life.

“And that learning to accept yourself and your body and appreciating what it does for you and how it's got you through - instead of standards set by the media and the world," Amanda says.

Emma took her personal experience with her own struggles and wanted to show that "...no matter how hard it is we are all still beautiful even when we are bare to the bones”.

Julie Purcell

Kippa-Ring’s Julie Purcell’s EBWTY - Everyone is beautiful when they're young - conjures memories from her childhood.

The piece depicts the artist as a young girl standing between her parents at a backyard party in the 1980s.

"Here, preserved like pickles in a brine of nostalgia, I depict my folks and I at a late ’80s backyard party,” the Redcliffe Art Society member says.

“My portrait of the past is a reverie on time's passage and what family support means to me.

"Despite diverging from a sensible, corporate path back in my 20s, my parents remain staunch backers of my artistic pursuits.

“Thanks, Mum and Dad, from your artist in residence."

Marion Rodgers

Ocean View artist Marion Rodgers’ entry of her friend, Norma Wood, celebrates her skills as a fine art photographic artist specialising in abstract photography.

Marion says her work allows graphic qualities such as texture, colour, shape, structure and rhythm to be distorted, showing a subtle universe which is much more emotive and imprecise than the real world.

Marion’s unique style tries to convey an idea, rather than an image.

“I’m trying to capture what (the sitters) are, not what they seem to be.

The effect in Norma’s portrait was created entirely in-camera, with no post-production work.

Marion says she was drawn to Norma as a subject because: "...Norma has a different aura. She is very ethereal, and she gave me the impression that she is almost not there. I wanted to try to capture that."

The portrait's title, Jus annuli aurei, is Latin and means wearer of a gold ring in ancient Roman times. "Norma adored her late husband and sees him as her saviour,” Marion says.

“She always wears his wedding ring around her neck, for he was her knight, and the title of this work reflects that.”

Sally Chippendale

Samford artist Sally Chippendale is president of the Sandgate Art Society and regularly attends workshops, life drawing and art events throughout the city.

Sally’s entry in the 2024 Brisbane Portrait Prize captures Burpengary singer and Australian Idol performer Natasha Rose.

Natasha started writing poems and songs when she was 10 and a family tradition of singing together every night fostered her ambition to write and perform.

In Sally’s portrait, she is fully absorbed in the writing.

Sally says the composition is angled so the paper and the centrally placed pen become the focus of the painting, forcing attention to Natasha’s emerging creativity.

The work captures a reflective moment off stage, spotlighting the energy she spends building her career.

“Natasha will do anything to make her dreams a reality,” Sally says.

“If there are no open doors that lead to opportunities, she will build the door herself."

Catch the exhibition

Winners will be announced by Chief Judge Bree Pickering at opening night on August 2.

The exhibition opens to the public at the State Library Queensland on Saturday, August 3, running until Sunday, November 10, with the public having the chance to choose their People’s Choice winner by the end of October.