Part of the Furniture
Stella Valente
- Sitter: Kiri FitzGerald
- Medium: Coloured pencil and pen on paper
- Dimensions: 50cm x 70cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
2025 Emerging Artist Prize
About the artwork
A teacher, an artist, a inspiration.
In this portrait, 18-year-old Stella Valente depicts her high school art teacher, Kiri FitzGerald, standing on a table in her classroom wearing her favourite jeans and a knitted cape. Valente is currently completing Year 12 at Everton Park State High School, “a school where I have finally found my place after years of trying to fit into a box elsewhere… Sometimes superheroes arrive when you least expect them and are there when you need them the most. The first time I walked into her classroom, I was broken. She candidly encouraged me, wrapped me in support and challenged me… just enough. Slowly, she helped pick up the pieces and turned my life around. Her room became my happy place, and I became a part of the furniture.”
The portrait captures not only FitzGerald’s fun-loving nature and individuality, but also the profound impact a teacher can have on a student’s life.
About the artist
Stella Valente is a young emerging artist based in Brisbane whose work blends hyperrealism and technical precision with inventive approaches to portraiture, often incorporating ballpoint pen. Her practice draws on personal experiences and the influential figures who have shaped her life. She was a finalist in the Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize in 2025.
