Shortchanged
Melanie Kilby
- Sitter: Rhys Reynolds
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 61 x 76 cm
- Representation: The artist represents themselves
- Category: Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists
About the artwork and sitter
Who needs trousers when you’re Zooming? Dressed for a Zoom gala, Rhys Reynolds poses for this portrait in a blue velvet dinner jacket and his favourite Camilla swimmers.
Rhys is Public Relations Manager for Cancer Council Queensland, and a good friend of the artist.
“Between his job and busy social life, he has been shortchanged by COVID more than anyone I know. A little too familiar with lockdowns, isolating and cancelled major life events, this portrait aims to capture the absurdity and humour in this modern way of communicating and conversely, the disappointment and disconnection that accompanies it. I feel that Rhys’ complicated expression shows a little of both.”
About the artist
Melanie Kilby is a multidisciplinary Brisbane artist, illustrator and co-founder of Finite Art Space in Paddington. Her work is generally figurative. Frequently commissioned for portraits, she also draws botanicals and creates absurd compositions.
She has been a finalist in a number of local prizes, including the 2020 BPP Salon de Refuses and the Lethbridge Small Scale Art.
"It now seems destined that when I'd decided that I was going to paint Rhys that the winning outfit would include his much loved and even more talked about Camilla swimmers."
Behind the scenes
It now seems destined that when I’d decided that I was going to paint Rhys that the winning outfit would include his much loved and even more talked about Camilla swimmers. Many outfits were tested but it’s the OTT swimmers paired with his blue velvet jacket that were always going to be a winner. If an outfit could sum up a person, I think we nailed it.
I’d like to thank Jason from Darcy Starr Photography for his generosity for helping photograph Rhys. Jason’s calm nature and banter really has a way of making his sitters feel at ease.
