The Artist’s studio
Imogen Corbett
- Sitter: Natalya Hughes
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 130cm x 100cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
2024 Lord Mayor's Prize
Proudly supported by
Brisbane City Council
About the artwork
Natalya Hughes is an accomplished Brisbane artist represented by Milani Gallery and is the Director of the Visual Arts honours program at QCAD, Griffith University. She taught Imogen in 2023.
Both artist and sitter share a love of fabrics and pattern, but from different critical perspectives. As an artist, Imogen is inspired by Renaissance iconography, and her love of fabrics is due to the painterly way they are used to elevate the sitter.
Natalya’s work is based on a feminist critique, and the way fabric and ‘feminine crafts’ have been used historically by women, and seen by broader society.
“This portrait takes a feminist position on the historical artist and muse dichotomy. The portrait is inspired by the aristocratic portraits of French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, where the sitter is elevated by the rendering of decadent clothing and fabrics.”
Natalya Hughes sits confidently in her studio, her working hands at rest. looking directly at us with confidence, or even a sense of defiance. The textures of the various fabrics and surfaces have been rendered with great attention to detail, from the chair, to the shawl to, to the glass louvers, to Natalya’s shoes. The artists love of feminine patterns and colour are clear.
“Set against the backdrop of her own creative genius in the artist’s studio, the decorative patterns and feminine palette act as empowering regalia, a signifier of Natalya’s standing as an exceptional Brisbane artist.”
About the artist
Imogen Corbett is an emerging artist whose current works explore the position of everyday people and spaces in the hypermodern age and our newfound negotiations with digital and material realms. These are expressed through complex, realistic oil paintings, mostly portraits. She has recently completed her BA (honors) at QCAD, Griffith University.
Judge's Notes
This joyful, approachable and well executed painting is at once a portrait of the sitter, also an artist, and a commentary on ideas of femininity and work.
Close looking will reveal the dualities present in this portrait. The room appears intimate and domestic but it’s the artist’s studio – her workplace, so the painting raises questions about where work is done, what is work, and what’s domestic. Beautifully composed, it also celebrates ‘prettiness’ in the colour, patterns and texture of the fabrics, but the subject is central and has a commanding expression – a gaze that is both inviting and piercing. Softness and strength are reflected together.
The work speaks to the relationship between the artist and sitter, of scholar-teacher. So it’s a portrait of respect and the generative exchange of ideas between artists, which connects to a long history of portraiture and art making in which artists grow and work together.
