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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Eyes on the Prize

by Joanna Gilmour, 1 September 2010

A short visual essay of some of the works in the National Youth Self Portrait Prize 2010.

masculine/feminine, 2010 by Bridget Mac. NYSPP 2010 winner

By merging the roles of artist and subject, self portraiture offers the viewer an intimate view of creativity and artistic expression. The National Youth Self Portrait Prize is an annual exhibition that invites Australians aged eighteen to twenty-five to explore the potential of self portraiture.

For young artists the self portrait is experience and experiment, and perhaps a signature – a chance to explore who they are at this time, what their life says about human experience and the place of their generation in contemporary Australia.

Working in a range of media, the artists’ approaches explore the tension between the presentation of a single image to characterise the self and the representation of the multiple identities that are inherent to us all. The National Youth Self Portrait Prize is sponsored by the Tallis Foundation and supported by the Association of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. A finalist in 2009, the winner of this year’s Prize is Sydney-based artist Bridget Mac.

7 portraits

1 Real nothings, 2010. 2 Untitled [Portrait of twenty-eight days], 2010. 3 Self portrait, 2009. 4 sister girl, 2010.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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