I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Cressida Campbell is a fan of art auctions. For an artist, that’s a fairly unusual position. Auctions can be terribly exposing – great if an artwork soars, but if it flops, so too can an artist’s self-esteem and market credibility.

“I actually love auctions,” she says when we meet for lunch at French-inspired Bistro Moncur in Woollahra, around the corner from leafy Queen Street, the heart of Sydney’s art auction trade. “Although, it’s pretty scary when it’s your own work,” she says, “and very occasionally it gets passed in, and that’s depressing.”