VISUAL ART
BAD PET PORTRAITURE
Bad Pet Portraiture (est. 2020) is an art initiative that specialises in custom, small-scale watercolour paintings of pets. The only catch? The portraits are bad. Pet owners can purchase portraits in the flesh at events Australia wide, or via the online store. Each portrait takes approximately 3 minutes with prices starting at $15 a pop.
Bad Pet Portraiture has featured at events including The Great Artist Market, ABC 612's Mutt Muster, the Brisbane Street Art Festival and International Guide Dog Day.
With an online cult following of 15,000+, Bad Pet Portraiture is renowned for providing fun, accessible and affordable work of questionable quality.
home is where the art is
Furnishings that perfectly balance whimsical aesthetics and practicality. Built from recycled materials, these pieces are a testament to my fast and loose woodworking skills that I learned on the internet. A number of these pieces have become fully integrated into my everyday living.
A triumph in unsupervised use of power tools and electrical equipment, and an excellent use of grown-up free will.
DÜCK (tHE TABLE)
Ducks are a recurring motif in my work - and in my abode. The concept of the duck table was born simply out of my desire to have a duck table. I wanted a duck table, I designed a duck table, I built a duck table.
DÜCK (the mural)
In 2023, the Brisbane Street Art Festival commissioned a mural. On a massive high from building the duck table, I dreamt of what a commercial run of duck tables would look like. Thus, DUCK the mural came to fruition. A homage to Swedish flat pack furniture, this work channeled an iconic style to immortalise an iconic table.
FROG TABLE
Just a really good coffee table that is the heart of my living room.
DESK DESK
A typographer's dream. This desk does exactly what it says - DESK. Its functionality is undisputed - I am using it as we speak to write this very important description of one of my finest works. The desk legs were rescued from council clean-up, and the top was designed, carved and painted by hand.
BIRD LAMPS
These decorative light features are the perfect addition to any space. I created them with the intention to become an attractive living room centrepiece, but a curator bought all 4 to put in their baby's nursery instead. I hope these lamps help that baby develop a great taste in interior design.
PORTRAIT PRIZES hate to see me coming
HOT GAY COWBOY - PORTRAIT OF PEPPER CHURCHILL
Acrylic on Board | 840mm x 600mm | 2020
My first ever acrylic large scale portrait of my dear friend Pepper Churchill. Completed during lockdown, it was the most time I have ever invested in a painting. It has been said that time doesn't create meaning, it reveals it. That is the case for this work.
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Upon completion, I gifted this work to Pepper's grandfather who promptly cut it up and used the wood to build a bird box. I only discovered this years later when it was accepted into a gallery show and I asked to borrow the artwork back. My relationship with portraiture has been tumultuous ever since.
THE SPACE I DESERVE - SELF PORTRAIT
Acrylic on Cardboard | 40mm x 30mm | 2023
This portrait is about occupying space. One of my greatest fears is being an inconvenience to others. I am afraid that I don't belong in the realm of fine art. I contort myself and shrink myself. I want to be easy to swallow.
I decided to carve out a space for myself. A very little space. A space I deserve
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This piece was smuggled in to the finalist exhibition for the Brisbane Portrait Prize in 2023, and hung on the wall amongst the finalists. It had a didactic that put it in contention for "Best Illegitimate Artwork". It remained hanging for 2 full days before it was noticed by organisers. It was officially counted as an exhibiting artwork as a result, and was acquired by the Brisbane Portrait Prize thereafter.
COSTA LIVING - PORTRAIT OF COSTA GEORGIADIS
Gouache on $10 bill | 137mm x 65mm | 2024
This portrait of Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis captures his unbreakable spirit in the face of turmoil (agricultural or otherwise). We may be in a cost of living crisis, but Costa will truly always just be living.
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It was only after I completed this painting and submitted it to the ABC that I was informed that defacing money is a federal offence. I wrote to the treasury to try and get an exemption but this made them pretty mad and they sent back a very strongly worded email. I felt so guilty that I washed the portrait off the note. If anyone asks, this never happened.
SNEAK PEAK: BEAN BAG CHAIR
A small preview of my upcoming debut exhibition BEAN BAG CHAIR. These are scans of clay sculptures compiled into textile patterns. That's it that's all that you get.
