New South Wales has its own in the form of the Archibald. The Brisbane Portrait Prize is all about celebrating Brisbane portrait artists and their sitters and it was established in 2019. Now it is held every year and keenly anticipated. Currently on at the https://brisbaneportraitprize.org/about/

L2 slq Gallery at State Library of Queensland until the 9th November. Its free so go along and enjoy it. Brisbane’s meandering river (Maiwar) to subtropical architecture shapes the identities of those who call it home. These portraits explore how the city’s distinctive environment becomes woven into personal narrative.

I will share just a few I really enjoyed. Emily Hastie made Rhythms of the Heart. Her subject is Tran Quang Long Bradley. She uses pyrography.

Tran Quang Long Bradley is a Vietnamese-Australian church elder who arrived in Australia in 1974 for urgent eye surgery through World Vision.

As conflict overtook his homeland, his family pleaded for him to stay and he was subsequently raised by adoptive parents in Brisbane. For over 25 years, Long has supported young people as a school chaplain.For this portrait, the artist shows Long holding a djembe, central to his community work.

This striking portrait was created using pyrography, a technique involving the controlled burning of organic material. The chosen canvas is camphor laurel, an Asian timber that, while non-native to Australia, thrives in its landscape – a poetic parallel to Bradley’s own journey.

Emily Rose Hastie is a multidisciplinary artist working predominantly with the medium of pyrography (wood burning), acrylics and carving techniques.

Emerging Artists Prize given to Stella Valente for her portrait of Kiri Fitzgerald entitled part of the furniture. A teacher, an artist, an inspiration.

In this portrait, 18-year-old Stella Valente depicts her high school art teacher, Kiri FitzGerald, standing on a table in her classroom wearing her favourite jeans and a knitted cape. Valente is currently completing Year 12 at Everton Park State High School.

Stella says “a school where I have finally found my place after years of trying to fit into a box elsewhere… Sometimes superheroes arrive when you least expect them and are there when you need them the most. The first time I walked into her classroom, I was broken. She candidly encouraged me, wrapped me in support and challenged me… just enough. Slowly, she helped pick up the pieces and turned my life around. Her room became my happy place, and I became a part of the furniture.”

The portrait captures not only FitzGerald’s fun-loving nature and individuality, but also the profound impact a teacher can have on a student’s life.

Stella Valente is a young emerging artist in Brisbane. While this portrait looks flat to the onlooker it is full of layers and textures when seen sideways. Very clever and complex.

Connor Bashar. NFD Not Further Defined – My Father Shervin Bashar, Medium: Digital Artwork Age: 17

A fingerprint is meant to define us; utterly unique, immutable, and individual. Yet for many, identity is something more complex than one impression.

Connor says”This portrait explores my experience as a Persian Australian growing up between cultures and navigating the space where they blur. The eyes belong to my father, layered within my own fingerprint, a subtle collision of heritage, ancestry, and perception.In combining photography and print, I wanted to challenge the idea that we can be easily categorised. For me, this is an exploration of how we’re perceived and how we see ourselves, especially when living in the ‘third space’ between cultures”.

He is one of the younger artists – a new generation creating in Brisbane.