Life is like a Picture

Oil & Gold Leaf

2017 Archibald Entrant 2017

Moran Portraiture prize – Semi Finalist

What inspired me to put my daughter Laura in the bottom of the wardrobe and take a gazillion photos to get this pose that ‘life is like a picture’.

We live our lives watching others and they in turn watch us. Some people feel secure in their own space and others need protective boundaries like the walls of the box.

How is Laura coping? The expression on her face with her relaxed pose tells us that she is quite content and secure in her own space. When we are looking at a painting, we are judging it. As we look at this painting Laura knows she is being viewed and judged but her expression is one of confidence. Laura’s arm was painted resting outside of the confined space of the box; she is both a painting and real.

I applied gold leaf and painted over this with a thin oil paint and medium mix to create the illusion of a frame. The idea of framing the box supported the notion of the ‘secure life’.