Beth Mitchell’s lockdown art wins major gong at Brisbane Portrait Prize

Locked down in Melbourne, photographer Beth Mitchell took her frustrations to the freezing waters of Port Phillip Bay for an unusual self-portrait which has won her the top gong in this year’s Brisbane Portrait Prize.

Beth Mitchell

A self portrait of the artist keeping her head above water in freezing Port Phillip Bay has netted Brisbane photographer Beth Mitchell the main award at this year’s Brisbane Portrait Prize. Mitchell’s unique portrait No Land In Sight was shot off St Kilda in Bayside Melbourne where she is currently living under lockdown with her partner, electrician Scott Ridley.

Mitchell, 30, who was dividing her time between Brisbane and Melbourne before lockdown was not on hand for the presentation Wednesday night at Brisbane Powerhouse but she sent her mum Wendy in her place.

Beth Mitchell’s winning work, No Land In Sight

“When my mum delivered the work to the prize she said - I have the winning work here,” Mitchell says. “I didn’t expect her to be right.”

Mitchell wins $50,000 for the Lord Mayor’s Prize, the top gong in the annual award for portraiture now in its third year. She has been a finalist the past two years with unique works shot underwater including one of pop star Amy Sheppard as a mermaid.

This time she chose to shoot above the water, just, with only her head visible.

“Frustration is present as I step into the freezing waters on yet another miserable winter day locked down in Melbourne,” Mitchell says. “Unable to travel back to Brisbane, the ever evolving knowledge of a growing divide among people politically, socially and environmentally bears down on my mind increasing the need to create something meaningful and purposeful.”

Prize judge Karen Quinlan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, says Mitchell’s work “encapsulates drama, confidence and beauty making it a stunning and captivating self-portrait”.

“First impressions are important and as I viewed the numerous entries for the 2021 Brisbane Portrait Prize I kept being drawn back to this work,” Quinlan says.

Birrunga Wiradyuri won the Packer’s Prize for his unusual work Burundhang Gunhungurran (Night Rainbow).

Mitchell says she is honoured to be the first female and digital award recipient of the main prize.

“To be selected among such an impressive range of portraiture is something my younger self would never have believed possible,” she says. “I’m rendered speechless.”

But not so speechless that she couldn’t Zoom into the awards night ceremony to say thanks.

Brisbane Portrait prize director Anna Reynolds says Mitchell’s work has “strength and gravitas”.

“Not only is she pioneering a new approach to digital technique No Land in Sight packs considerable emotional punch,” Reynolds says. “It is rich in symbolism and evokes both the complex emotions surrounding isolation and lockdowns while commenting on broader questions of the human spirit.” Among the other winners was former Courier-Mail staffer Russell Shakespeare who won the digital award of $10,00 for his portrait of artist Judy Watson.

The Brisbane Portrait Prize finalist exhibition is now on at Brisbane Powerhouse and voting for The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Award closes Friday October 15 at 12pm.

FULL LIST OF AWARDS AT BRISBANE PORTRAIT PRIZE:

Accenture Prize for Digital Portraiture ($10,000) - The Artist Judy Watson by Russell Shakespeare.

Performing Arts and Music Award ($7,500) - Amanda Penrose Hart - Reg

Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists ($5,000) Tish Linehan - Path of Focus: Portrait of Cate and Bronte Campbell

Highly Commended - Mon and Mitch by Monica Rohan and Cat Van-Davies by Liam Nunan.

Packer‘s Prize ($5,000) - Burundhang Gunhungurran (Night Rainbow) by Birrunga Wiradyuri

Next Gen Prize ($2,000) The Climber by Grace Naveikata

Support for Emerging Artists ($1,000 Voucher) - Home by Hanna Brown and Gratitude and A Dream by Martina Clarke.

Click here to vote in the Brisbane Portrait Prize people’s choice award.

Visit brisbaneportraitprize.org for more details.