My Archibald Entry 2019: It didn’t fly with the judges, but exploring my experiences in Melbourne was important for me
Fulfilling a promise made a few years ago, I asked Melbourne Muslim community leader Nail Aykan to be the subject for my portrait for the Archibald Prize. While we didn’t get short-listed (it's quite an Anglo event) it was tremendous fun, and more Australian Artists of colour should enter and have different stories heard. In this of all years, especially after March 2019, it was a painting which I put a lot of feeling into.
It is a relatively small painting. Only a 10x12" stretched canvas which you can view in my gallery Boy on Electric Scooter in Collapsing Universe 2. Thank you Nail for the sittings and the final painting and the conversations about art, history and the Muslim diaspora.
