Start the Riot (on exhibit through July 2016) Painting

My Finalist portrait of Ollie Henderson for the 2015 Archibald Prize. THE SUBJECT: The subject is a friend of mine, who also happens to be a an activist, designer and one of Australia's top models, Ollie Henderson. This 26 year old has received global recognition for founding fashion label and youth empowerment project House of Riot. She uses fashion as a vehicle for encouraging young people to start productive conversations about social change in Australia. House of Riot started in the form of 100 hand painted T-shirts with positive political slogans worn by her friends in between runway shows at Fashion Week Australia, 2014. It soon became a fully-fledged fashion label designed to address social issues such as equality, environment and economic status. 20% of t-shirt sales are donated to relevant non-profits. Having already graced the cover of major publications like Vogue and Style as a model, Ollie's House of Riot project has been featured in US Vogue, Us Harper’s Bazaar, French Elle, Brazilian Elle, Nylon Japan, Style.com and a range of other media including her recent Ted-x talk in Sydney. Ollie is continually transforming her multidisciplinary vision, engaging and educating young people to bring social change through creative expression. WHY I CHOSE OLLIE: I typically create paintings of LGBTQ-identified and Queer-allied women, most recently focusing on those who have impacted my life in some way. My work explores the line between glorification, objectification and modification, using patterns and abstractions from each subject’s local and social environment as a subtle vernacular to portray the fluidity and complexities of identity. As a feminist member of the LGBTQ community, Ollie publicly speaks openly about the objectification inherent to a career in modeling, and the unrealistic modification of images that sets unattainable standards of beauty. Ollie is constantly evolving both in relation and opposition to her social environment, fighting against binary gender standards by taking on various permutations of androgyny. I can’t think of a more fitting subject for my work. ABOUT THE ARCHIBALD PRIZE EXHIBITION: First awarded in 1921, The Archibald Prize is Australia’s favorite art award and is exhibited annually at one of Australia’s most prestigious museums, the Art Gallery of New South Wales. “Awarded to the best portrait painting, it’s a who’s who of Australian culture – from politicians to celebrities, sporting heroes to artists.” - http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/ EXHIBITION DATES/LOCATIONS: Art Gallery of New South Wales: 18 Jul – 27 Sep 2015 The exhibition will travel to the following venues: Ballarat Art Gallery: 2 Oct – 15 Nov 2015 New England Regional Art Museum: 20 Nov – 10 Jan 2016 Tweed River Art Gallery: 15 Jan -28 Feb 2016 Manning Regional Art Gallery: 5 March – 17 April 2016 Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery: 23 April – 5 June 2016 Blue Mountains Cultural Centre: 11 June – 24 July 2016

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:40 W x 60 H x 2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.