Seeing things differently
Rebecca Davis
- Sitter: Rebecca Davis
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 48cm x 63cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
2025 Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists
Proudly supported by
Clem Jones Foundation
About the artwork
This self-portrait was painted during a time of deep uncertainty for the artist. She had just been made redundant, the news was full of global unrest – Trump, war, economic pressure – and the world, it seemed, was spinning off-centre. Facing the unknown, she found herself seeing everything, including herself, differently.
“This painting holds the stillness I found whilst sitting in the chaos, staying curious and quietly committing to a new path. My favourite t-shirt represents something bold and shiny, contrasting with the inner tension under the surface: fear, pressure, but also determination. Behind the gaze is quiet resolve: stay the course, respond on my terms. And even though the world felt loud and uncertain, this moment became about finding stillness, tuning in and choosing to begin again, with grit and a little sparkle.”
“I wanted to record this moment to remind myself that when it’s hard, I can listen to my heart, be courageous and look for the joy in the unexpected.”
About the artist
Rebecca Davis is an emerging artist based in Brisbane working across painting, drawing, printmaking, collage and mixed media. She completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the University of South Australia in 1989 and a Diploma in Visual Communication in 2002 at Design College Australia. She won the Adelaide Fringe poster competition in 2024 and exhibited in the Brisbane Portrait Prize Salon des Refusés in 2023 and 2024.
Judge's Notes
The raw honesty of Rebecca Davis’s self-portrait Seeing things differently compelled repeated viewing. As a painting it is technically excellent and aesthetically refined, but it is the absorbing image of the artist depicting herself so openly, and sharing with us her profound vulnerability, that gives this small painting its powerful emotional intensity.
The direct gaze of the artist – at us, at herself – anchors a sophisticated composition. Davis states that she is wearing a favourite t-shirt, and her painting of a pink-sequined, contorted mouth with teeth biting a lower lip (in agony or ecstasy?) is deft and darkly humorous. Despite its uncompromising scrutiny of the self, this affecting work is utterly unselfconscious, which makes looking at it both rewarding and confronting.
Jason Smith, Director, Art Gallery of South Australia
Chief Judge, 2025
About Sylvia Jones
The Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists is proudly supported by The Clem Jones Foundation
Sylvia Jones (1909-1999) performed many different roles and made a significant contribution to the City of Brisbane as Lady Mayoress during her husband Clem’s record term as Lord Mayor from 1961 to 1975.
Noted for modernising the city — especially its road, transport, water, sewerage, and community and sporting infrastructure — the administration led by Clem Jones also helped to develop and expand Brisbane’s cultural life with Sylvia as Lady Mayoress playing an active and leading role.
Clem and Sylvia Jones both took a personal interest in Brisbane’s cultural life and development.
