As always, there was much to reflect upon. Including this year's Archibald Prize portrait of Margaret Olley by Ben Quilty (1); Adam Chang's strong and powerful Venetian red portrait of acclaimed novelist and academic J M Coetzee who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature (2); Craig Ruddy's portrait of Cathy Freeman. Ruddy’s work was created using expressive splashes of acrylic across the back of toughened glass and archival inks on the surface. Leaving the image of Cathy suspended above the canvas, and allowing light to move through her reflection (3); Geoffrey Dyer portrait of eccentric philanthropist David Walsh (4); and Apple Xiu Yin's portrait of one of Australia’s leading sopranos Cheryl Barker. The painting was entitled Hearing and Meditation. I particularly liked the artist's statement (below) (5).
"During last September and October, I finally had some time to rest after many years working laboriously,’ says Apple Xiu Yin. ‘I spent this time unwinding in my backyard listening to the sound of the wind and the birds chattering. I appreciated the multitude of white flowers upon my cherry tree. The smell of pollen wafted across my nose. My mind went blank as I totally relaxed and my heart filled up with nature. It was an incomparable feeling. This was, I think, a type of meditation".
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