My painting, 'By the Left, Eyes Right', has been shortlisted for the online exhibition for the Napier Waller Art Prize of the Australian War Memorial. The shortlisted entries in the online exhibition are open for the People's Choice award, you can vote for your favourite (mine!😁) by clicking on the link halfway down the following page up until 25 November 2018:
This painting reflects my friendship with three strong, courageous Army officers, Sarah Watson (nee Hingston), Stacey Harvey and Tegan Davey, with whom I have also deployed alongside at various times. The eyes right represents us as I imagined we may have been marching together in solidarity during the ‘By the Left’ initiative at this year’s ANZAC day marches, however, we were separated across the miles in Canberra, Darwin and Aix-en-Provence (France). I included the quote from the movie ‘The Testament of Youth’ to represent the losses we have all suffered in our lives; including my father - a RNZIR Vietnam Veteran who died of cancer aged 56, and other military colleagues and friends killed on operations or lost through suicide. I was trying to channel Dali’s surrealist style with the ghostly images, which are derived from photos from my operational deployments and my father’s slides from his deployment with W3 Coy in Vietnam. (Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 x 1.5")