© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Darling Portrait Prize 2024 Finalist
Ali Marshall
born Australia 1958
My life as a spotted gum 2024
oil on canvas
‘I decided to paint a self portrait highlighting an autoimmune disease with which I have recently been diagnosed. Vitiligo causes loss of skin colour in patches. It’s difficult to predict how the disease will progress and there is no cure. I am fortunate to live in an area where there are some beautiful spotted gum trees. They remind me of my Vitiligo, as they shed their bark and develop interesting variations in colour. Here, I am showing how the mind can sometimes exaggerate your predicament while the reality is not as evident. I am the spotted gum but the mirror shows a different me.’
Ali Marshall is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based artist working predominantly as a figurative and landscape painter. She is drawn to both landscapes and still life for inspiration and finds the human form endlessly fascinating.
© The artist
The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.
Visit us, learn with us, support us or work with us! Here’s a range of information about planning your visit, our history and more!
We depend on your support to keep creating our programs, exhibitions, publications and building the amazing portrait collection!
