The composite self: Exploring the self-portrait

Sun 9 Jul 2023

‘The composite self’ explores the multidimensional nature of identity, and the idea that our sense of self is informed by numerous influences, including our social circles and familial ties. For example, Vincent Namatjira’s double portrait Albert and Vincent 2014 (illustrated) pays homage to his revered great-grandfather, the renowned Arrernte watercolourist Albert Namatjira, and the artistic dynasty he initiated at Ntaria (Hermannsburg).

Davida Allen

Queensland artist Davida Allen’s raw, expressive paintings offer audiences a direct and cathartic view into her world. As she has explained, ‘I’ve constantly been painting pictures about the emotions that go through me. That’s the way I’ve resolved my problems in life’. As a young woman determined to make art despite the pressures of marriage and motherhood, Allen looked to her own experiences for subject matter — and has continued to share the events of her life through her art. Mother swinging her baby is a lyrical contemporary take on the timeless theme of mother and child, in which the artist and her infant daughter reach towards each other in a favourite game. The flowers that decorate Allen’s dress add to the celebratory and gently comical tone of the painting.

Madonna Staunton

Vincent Namatjira

Vincent Namatjira’s mother died when he was a child, and he was brought up away from his homeland and his extended family. Reconnecting with them as an adult, he now explores these experiences through his art. This double portrait features the artist and his late great-grandfather — renowned Arrernte watercolourist Albert Namatjira — and honours his artistic dynasty. Generations of artists from Ntaria (Hermannsburg) have continued the tradition that Albert established, working in watercolour, pottery and other art forms that celebrate his legacy and their own connection to Country.Vincent was drawn to make the painting after he visited the Queensland Art Gallery to view Albert’s watercolours and William Dargie’s portrait of Albert, which won the 1956 Archibald Prize. Vincent spent hours in the Gallery making sketches of Dargie’s painting before completing Albert and Vincent from his home in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia.