Bear and I
Ellenie Kirkman
- Sitter: Andrea Kirwin
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 80cm x 100cm
- Representation: Aspire Gallery
- Categories: Female artist, Performing arts and music industry
About the artwork
Andrea Kirwin is a Fijian-Australian singer-songwriter, event curator and founder of Peace Run Records, a musician who has given much to her community through twenty years of performance and devotion to independent arts.
At the start of 2026, Ellenie Kirkman was completing an artist residency in Eumundi, painting head studies of local musicians and creatives, when Andrea came to sit for her. She arrived with her dog Bear, who settled at her feet as she played guitar. It was during the sitting that Andrea mentioned Bear often lies on stage beside her while she performs. Ellenie quickly realised a portrait of Andrea without Bear would not be a portrait of Andrea at all. The resulting portrait is simple and full of light, two companions at ease with each other and with the world, reflecting everything Ellenie wanted to capture about Andrea, her gentle, calming presence and the harmony she carries through her world.
About the artist
Ellenie Kirkman is a nineteen-year-old emerging artist working on Kabi Kabi Country on the Sunshine Coast. Working in oils, her loose, expressive practice draws on the old masters, nature and human connection. Winner of the 2026 Mary Snow Emerging Artist Award and the Tall Trees Art Residency, she has exhibited across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
