Commissioned Portrait of John Feitelson

Q: Walk us through the process of creating this portrait.

Spanning over over nine months, the process of creating this portrait was slow and complex. I felt it was crucial to have a clear narrative, so getting to know John was as important if not more so than capturing a likeness of his face.

John and I met for the first time at the 2024 Archibald Prize exhibition with Sarah Birtles to view my portrait of Magaret Ackland which was hanging as a finalist in the prize.

After two sittings, concepts and the main structure of the portrait started to emerge in my head and so was a list of challenges. I dedicated all of December to this project by creating various portrait studies of his face on the boards along with countless revisions of the composition on paper. It was a frustrating and exhilarating exercise.

We had our third and last sitting in late February 2025, and John had lost 10kg! It was a beautiful afternoon, he put on his favourite shirt, we were relaxed and I knew exactly what I needed from this session.

Over the next five weeks, with the latest photograph of John I put together the final composition in greater detail. We decided to enter the painting in the 2025 Archibald Prize, it was a big push and I made it in time. Unfortunately, it wasn't selected but art prizes are like that, you never know what the outcome will be.

Q: What were the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of this
commission for you?

The most challenging aspect of this commission was defining my own distinct voice in the genre of portraiture. I had only ever completed one portrait before so this still felt very new to me.

With each sitting and draft I gained more confidence and found ways to convey the stories of my sitter. Composition is a key tool for me, in this work I've many artistic liberties to enlarge, move or change what was really in the space. We tried a few different poses during the sittings but in the end I chose to depict John directly facing the viewer as if on a throne alluding to his strong personal presence, this pose also mirrors the pose of the Nicholas Harding portrait. I also included many personal objects and artworks present in John's home like the sculpture of a half Kangaroo, half Springbok speaking to his South African heritage and his home now in Australia.

John also has a wonderful sense of humour so I included this portrait within the painting, hanging behind his head - it made sense compositionally and I knew that John would enjoy the playfulness.

The most rewarding moment has to be the overwhelming response from John over the phone shortly after he received the photos of his portrait. He was absolutely thrilled by the result. I was very pleased for him, for Sarah and for myself.

Q: What motivated you to invest so much into this particular work?

It is absolutely true I spent an exceptional amount of time and energy on this commission and the motivation behind that was because I had to.

It is inevitable that as a beginner in this genre, I will need to pour in a lot more effort to arrive at the level of standard that is expected from me with this high-stake commission.

Q: This portrait now joins an impressive lineage of portraits including Nicholas Harding’s John Feitelson (2009) and Caroline Zilinsky’s Man with Two Lives (2021). What does this mean to you?

To me there was a great sense of humility and duty to be part of this lineage.

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the late Nichols Harding and the spectacular Caroline Zilinsky. I was acutely aware of their presence throughout the process. I had some seriously big shoes to fill. So much so that I acknowledge the lineage by including Harding's John Feitelson (2007) and the chair and carpet of Zilinsky’s Man with Two Lives (2021) in the top right section of my
painting.

I am extremely grateful to John for taking a chance on me with this commission.

Q: Now that the portrait is finished, what do you hope it will mean to John and to others who see it?

I hope that this portrait will bring much fondness to John now and into the future. It's very much a portrait of him and his partner, Jane and this happy time in their life together.

As for others who see the portrait I hope it will see it, with a smile, as that is how John told me he would like to be remembered, with a smile.

Q: What's next for you?

I am now finishing a 100cm x 100cm interior commission and quickly followed by two commissions which came out of the 2024 Singapore Affordable Art Fair with Sarah.

I also have big plans for the 2025 Sydney Affordable Art Fair at Carriageworks this November with Sarah. I am not sure exactly what I am going to do yet and I am looking forward to seeing what I am going to produce at the end of it.