Irish-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based artist Fiona McMonagle studied at RMIT and Victorian College of the Arts. Well-known for her watercolour portraiture, Fiona pushes the limits of the medium and often addresses women’s experiences of celebrity, strength, vulnerability, achievement, erasure and invisibility. Fiona has been recognised in numerous prizes and exhibited nationally, including as a major exhibitor in the 2016 Adelaide Biennial. Her work has appeared in previous National Portrait Gallery exhibitions, The Popular Pet Show and So Fine, and her portrait of Ellyse Perry is held in the collection.
Fiona’s watercolour animation The Yellow Brick Road is a portrait of Australian society through the evocation of the experience of a vulnerable person walking alone through urban public spaces at night.