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Hello and welcome to the National Portrait Gallery.
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We're so happy that you could join us here today
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for this conversation between an artist
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and a subject from our Darling Portrait Prize.
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A couple of things before we get started.
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If you haven't already put your screen into speaker mode,
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you might like to toggle that in the top right hand
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corner of your screen.
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And also we would really appreciate it if you kept
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your microphones on mute throughout the discussion,
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but we'd really encourage you to enter any questions
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that you might have of our guests here today
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into the chat box, which is accessible
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on the bottom menu bar on your screen.
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If you're gonna do that, maybe give it a crack now
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and let us know perhaps where you're dialing in from today.
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We're always really keen to hear where our audiences
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are coming from for these virtual conversations.
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Particularly if you're joining us from our friends
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in Melbourne who are in lockdown at the moment
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or in lockdown anywhere around the world.
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And we really hope that you're staying safe and well.
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If you would like to find out more about
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our virtual conversations,
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we're holding a lot more of these virtual events now,
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our website address is portrait.gov.au
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You can sign up for our emails or you can follow us
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on all our socials @PortraitAu
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So we'll get cracking - at the end of the conversation.
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I'm gonna throw in any questions
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that you might have to our guests.
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So please do communicate with us.
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We'd love this to be an open dialogue between
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our audiences and our guests.
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I'm just gonna pass you over to Karen Vickery now,
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who's going to introduce our speakers to you.
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Thank you, Gill.
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Well, welcome everybody, my name is Karen.
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I'm the Director of Learning and Visitor Experience
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at the National Portrait Gallery.
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And it's a great pleasure to be here today
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with these two lovely gentlemen.
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But before I introduce you to them,
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I would like to have an acknowledgement.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the traditional
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custodians of country throughout Australia
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and recognizes their continuing connection
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to lands, waters and communities.
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We pay our respect to Aboriginal
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and Torres Strait Islander elders, the custodians
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and the elders both past and present.
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Now to introduce you, first of all,
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the artwork itself. "Post-show blues" by our artist,
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Liam Nunan painted in 2019.
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So I'll tell you a little bit about Liam,
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but I'm gonna have to ask Liam to hold my things.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So I can put my glasses on.
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Cause they're both very prolific and successful people.
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So this is Liam Nunan, welcome Liam.
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Thank you.
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And I had the privilege of working with both Liam
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and Guy many years ago, supposedly as one of their teachers,
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but you know, they taught themselves very effectively,
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very talented men, both of them.
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Liam describes himself as being relatively new to painting.
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However, in 2019, he won The Lester Prize for Portraiture
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for a painting of Johnny Hawkins.
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So for a newbie, he's doing incredibly well
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and to have a portrait in
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the Darling Portrait Prize is fantastic.
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So congratulations-
Thank you.
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On both of those achievements, Liam.
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So Liam originally came from Brisbane and he moved to Sydney
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to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art,
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better known as NIDA, in about 2010.
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He's a very successful actor.
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He's worked for Belvoir Theatre Company,
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the National Theater of Parramatta,
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the Malthouse Theater in Melbourne,
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Queensland Theater Company, among others.
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And also on screen, you may have encountered Liam's work,
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but in more recent times,
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he has been combining his professional acting career
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with a serious career as a portrait artist.
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And for our subject Guy, welcome Guy.
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Thank you.
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Guy is an actor as well and also trained at NIDA.
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And this is where these two gentlemen met.
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So they've known each other since 2010.
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Ten years?
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Yes, yeah, it's an anniversary.
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(all laughs)
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Guy is a Birripi Man from the great lakes region
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of the Northern Coast in New South Wales.
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He graduated from NIDA in 2010.
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So Liam was coming to study
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and Guy was in his final year at that time.
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Now Guy's a hugely successful actor.
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He was in a Cloudstreet at the Malthouse Theater,
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Harp in the South at Sydney Theater Company.
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He's worked for the Griffin Theater.
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He's worked for Belvoir Theater.
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He's also...
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Oh yes, Queensland Theater Company,
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Guy was one of the styles of Black Diggers,
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which was a fabulous production.
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And also you may know Guy from many appearances on screen,
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including Redfern Now, the ABC and Blackfella films series,
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which was fabulous.
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2017 Guy won the Helpmann Award - congratulations Guy.
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Thank you.
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As best actor in a supporting role in a play
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for Jasper Jones, which he performed at MTC.
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And so without further ado,
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I'd like to introduce you to these two wonderful
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young artists... and they're flatmates.
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Yes.
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So they know each other extremely well.
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And I think what we'd like to hear first of all,
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is maybe what inspired you Liam,
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to paint your flatmate, Guy.
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I'm going to get out of the picture.
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Thank you, Karen.
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I mean I've painted all my housemates now
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just because they're there and I make them sit for me
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to draw and practice with and everything like that.
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First of all I started painting probably
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coming up to about two years ago now.
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In about 2017, I started going
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to a lot of life drawing classes
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and then a friend got me into painting.
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And from there it was kind of like who I can get to sit
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for me for extended amounts of time.
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And being a housemate, it's a lot easier
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just to be like, clearly, "can you just sit there
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and play PlayStation, PlayStation Nint-
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Nintendo. - Nintendo.
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Get it right. - I always get it wrong.
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(laughs)
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So I'd known I'd wanted to paint Guy for a while.
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And I did try a few times before this
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very unsuccessfully.
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I just kept trying to overthink ideas
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and concepts,
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taking lots of photos and getting him to sit for me
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in different ways.
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And then I kinda just put that idea to rest
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for a little while.
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And then yes, I saw the Darling Prize was coming up
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and I was like, this is one, I'm gonna do Guy for this one.
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And yeah, on the day I think his bedroom
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has the best light in the house.
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So I was pretty much well, "We'll do it out there."
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And I went up to set up my drawing stuff
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and he was just playing Nintendo. - Yeah.
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So I was like, "Oh, this is actually a really
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nice color palette, kind of, the wall
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and the shirts and everything like that."
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And it kind of just started from there, took a few shots,
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did some sketches and that sort of thing.
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Quite often with, I think...
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when I try and put a concept into,
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I mean, of course there is a concept to the painting
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or an idea of Post-show blues, which I've called it.
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Usually the idea of what the painting is about,
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sort of comes out while I'm working on the painting.
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It's kind of just what sort of I find is filling my brain
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while I'm working on it, which kind of,
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I think just becomes imbued into the painting itself.
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So I knew I wanted to do something
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of Guy
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in a way that people aren't used to seeing him,
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he's a performer, so lots of people are seeing him
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in performance mode on stage.
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So I wanted to do something a bit more domestic
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and intimate and non-performative.
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And Guy and I have talked a lot in the past,
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I mean, a lot of actors do it's a very sort of
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up and down industry and you know,
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one minute you're working and the next three months
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you're not and, you know,
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driving delivery vans and stuff like that.
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So it's kind of it can be difficult at times
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to kind of balance your life in that regard.
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So the painting is sort of the kind of the aftermath
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of finishing a play and where it kind of leaves you
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after those really intense highs.
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I mean, I think after a play,
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you've talked about it in the past. - Yeah.
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How you kind of quite often for me, I mean,
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I know that I'll be awake until probably four in the morning
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and then I'll go to sleep and wake up mid day
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and get ready to do another show.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it sounds like you-
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Cause it's such a unique thing.
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Like people would speak about Post-show blues
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in this way that it was quite common.
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And I was experiencing this thing after the show
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had run it season or whatever, and I'm just like,
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this doesn't feel like what everyone else is going through.
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Like, "What is it?"
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And it all kind of started around Jasper Jones.
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Cause I did a season at Belvoir and then did a season at MTC
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and then went back to Belvoir.
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And so I'd racked up more than a 100 shows or whatnot.
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And every show was this-
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Very intense, quite - Yeah.
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Emotionally I'd be like, "Whoa."
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like at the end of the night.
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And so the preparation for that would...
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the show would start at, what,
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7:30, so at five o'clock I'd mentally
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be getting myself into this thing.
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And then going into the theater, warming up,
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doing this whole thing so from five o'clock
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until like 10 o'clock or something was this whole period
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of, you know, being in this character or warming up
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for it or whatever,
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I wasn't doing any thing to get out of it.
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And so it wasn't until I was doing,
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I don't know if I have we spoken
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about what happened at MTC?
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Do tell. No.
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Well, I was on stage and
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cause I was using, to get myself
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to that emotional state, when I was first doing it,
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I was available to just start crying or whatever.
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And then I would start resolving that
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and I'm like, "How did the tears come out?"
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And so I was using, you know, that opportunity
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to mourn my grandmother or like people that I knew. - Yep
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And then that was muddying with the character stuff.
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And then on stage I had this moment,
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like towards the end of the play where I had a suicidal
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thought and it took me to this place
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where it was like void of any emotion.
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And I was like, "I wanna die,
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I wanna kill myself."
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And then I caught myself doing that.
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Yeah.
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And then I was like, "Stop it, stop it."
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So I was having this like 20 minute conversation,
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well, it felt like that on stage,
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which probably lasted for a second.
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And I was like, "The audience can see it."
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And then I had to go off stage and then finish the play
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and I cried and then went off.
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And then after that it just kind of snowballed.
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And then, because I was doing it for so long
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and had that whole like five o'clock till like 10 o'clock
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of warming up after the play finished,
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like the week after that from five o'clock,
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til 10 o'clock where I was like living back, living my life.
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I was getting this anxiety where I would usually feel
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that of like, you know, getting ready for something.
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And then after that was Harp in the South,
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which was like a six-hour play, and then Cloudstreet,
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which was a six-hour play.
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00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:34.845
So then my warmup would start two hours before
262
00:12:34.845 --> 00:12:37.572
at two o'clock show going to 10 o'clock
263
00:12:37.572 --> 00:12:38.853
or something like that.
264
00:12:38.853 --> 00:12:41.642
So it'd be a whole day of this thing where-
265
00:12:41.642 --> 00:12:44.200
Cause you've gotta sort of acclimatize the day
266
00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.695
so that your peak energy level lens at the point
267
00:12:47.695 --> 00:12:48.933
that you need it to.
268
00:12:48.933 --> 00:12:49.874
Yeah, exactly.
269
00:12:49.874 --> 00:12:52.451
And when you're doing that months and months in
270
00:12:52.451 --> 00:12:53.284
Yeah.
271
00:12:53.284 --> 00:12:55.015
it kind of really shakes you up.
272
00:12:55.015 --> 00:12:57.555
Yeah, and so when that season finished,
273
00:12:57.555 --> 00:13:00.164
like for at least two or three weeks,
274
00:13:00.164 --> 00:13:04.008
I'd be getting this like anxiety type thing of like,
275
00:13:04.008 --> 00:13:06.360
I should be doing a show, but I know I'm not supposed to be,
276
00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:08.050
I should be at the theater.
277
00:13:08.050 --> 00:13:10.330
That day after it closes is the weird day
278
00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:13.727
when it's like 7:30 and you're like,
279
00:13:13.727 --> 00:13:15.632
"I should be like, my body is used
280
00:13:15.632 --> 00:13:18.162
to like being- peaking right now."
281
00:13:18.162 --> 00:13:19.670
Yeah, I mean like, do you feel
282
00:13:19.670 --> 00:13:21.800
that kind of thing after the show?
283
00:13:21.800 --> 00:13:25.310
Yeah, usually for like a week or so or something.
284
00:13:25.310 --> 00:13:27.940
I mean I've never done a show quite as long
285
00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.740
in terms of months that you have,
286
00:13:31.740 --> 00:13:33.740
and back to back as well.
287
00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:36.997
So I feel like, you know, a couple of days of feeling sad,
288
00:13:36.997 --> 00:13:41.597
the show's over, but never anything quite that intense,
289
00:13:41.597 --> 00:13:42.702
I suppose, yeah.
290
00:13:42.702 --> 00:13:44.637
Yeah, so it was just really full on.
291
00:13:44.637 --> 00:13:46.985
And so then, (laughs)
292
00:13:46.985 --> 00:13:49.650
because I'd always had game consoles and stuff
293
00:13:49.650 --> 00:13:52.390
and like touring life, it's so hard to pack
294
00:13:52.390 --> 00:13:56.570
this big computer in your bag and you'd have a laptop
295
00:13:56.570 --> 00:13:58.320
and stuff, but like a console or whatever.
296
00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.620
But as soon as the Nintendo Switch came out, it was like,
297
00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:04.333
you could put the console there and then you could put it
298
00:14:04.333 --> 00:14:06.066
in your pocket and you can put it everywhere.
299
00:14:06.066 --> 00:14:07.699
And I was like, "Give me one of those."
300
00:14:07.699 --> 00:14:10.300
So using that and then I could use
301
00:14:10.300 --> 00:14:12.185
that to busy my brain.
302
00:14:12.185 --> 00:14:14.890
And sort of slowly decompress. - Yeah.
303
00:14:14.890 --> 00:14:16.144
After show. - Yep.
304
00:14:16.144 --> 00:14:18.779
So that's how I dealt with it. - Yeah.
305
00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.450
Yeah, so that's kind of the mode
306
00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:24.371
in which I wanna sort of capture him in
307
00:14:24.371 --> 00:14:28.346
So you're flatmates, old friends. - Yeah.
308
00:14:28.346 --> 00:14:30.740
So you were aware of some of the things
309
00:14:30.740 --> 00:14:32.530
that Guy so generously shared with us
310
00:14:32.530 --> 00:14:34.139
that he was going through
311
00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:36.149
that were really personal, really difficult.
312
00:14:36.149 --> 00:14:36.982
Yep.
313
00:14:36.982 --> 00:14:39.362
So was that partly what was informing
314
00:14:39.362 --> 00:14:40.711
your desire to paint him?
315
00:14:40.711 --> 00:14:43.070
Yes, yeah, I mean, like I said,
316
00:14:43.070 --> 00:14:46.144
I had already wanted to paint him before that,
317
00:14:46.144 --> 00:14:47.770
as I am sort of,
318
00:14:47.770 --> 00:14:49.770
I do count myself as relatively new to painting
319
00:14:49.770 --> 00:14:51.720
and I'm only sort of starting to get used to now
320
00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:56.060
what my kind of M.O. is in terms of what I like to paint
321
00:14:56.060 --> 00:14:58.350
and I've tried to move away sometimes
322
00:14:58.350 --> 00:14:59.620
and it never quite works.
323
00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:02.513
And I kind of get, keep getting drawn back to a more,
324
00:15:04.400 --> 00:15:09.193
I don't want to say somber, but more, a private moment.
325
00:15:11.207 --> 00:15:12.950
An unperformed moment.
326
00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:15.143
A lot of the other people that I paint
327
00:15:15.143 --> 00:15:15.990
as well are actors as well.
328
00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:18.870
So yeah, I wanna be able to share
329
00:15:18.870 --> 00:15:22.810
just a moment of something that's not usually shared
330
00:15:22.810 --> 00:15:25.475
and that touch more vulnerable.
331
00:15:26.916 --> 00:15:29.261
So I think that, I knew that was the sort of direction
332
00:15:29.261 --> 00:15:31.553
I wanna go to, but yes, as I was painting it,
333
00:15:31.553 --> 00:15:36.553
I sort of went into the idea of after the show,
334
00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.480
when that finishes, that kind of,
335
00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:43.730
what do you fill your time with and where does that energy
336
00:15:43.730 --> 00:15:45.680
go and that character and that kind of mourning,
337
00:15:45.680 --> 00:15:49.740
that character that was alive for you, you know, it was,
338
00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:54.003
it seemed, you know, it takes a huge part of you, yeah.
339
00:15:56.811 --> 00:15:59.610
So Guy, were you aware of what Liam
340
00:15:59.610 --> 00:16:04.060
was trying to capture, that sense of you in this state?
341
00:16:04.060 --> 00:16:05.600
Or was it candid?
342
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.710
What was the experience like?
343
00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:10.906
It was almost like, cause I was, no, it was,
344
00:16:10.906 --> 00:16:12.360
(laughs)
345
00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:16.280
it was like, usually when Liam's sketches me
346
00:16:16.280 --> 00:16:18.017
or paint me or something, he's like,
347
00:16:18.017 --> 00:16:20.674
"Okay, so we'll just talk on some Netflix or something."
348
00:16:20.674 --> 00:16:22.150
or like we'd be at the pool or in the backyard.
349
00:16:22.150 --> 00:16:24.835
And he's like, "Do you mind if I sketch you?"
350
00:16:24.835 --> 00:16:27.001
So this for me, he was just like,
351
00:16:27.001 --> 00:16:30.090
yeah, just play your Nintendo and I'll-
352
00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:33.422
It's sort of like, yeah, it's easier to kind of,
353
00:16:33.422 --> 00:16:36.269
I'm always worried about asking to paint people
354
00:16:36.269 --> 00:16:37.859
and making them sit there for ages.
355
00:16:37.859 --> 00:16:40.250
So when I feel like it they're engaged in something,
356
00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:43.693
it's a lot easier for me as well to not feel like
357
00:16:43.693 --> 00:16:45.928
I have this huge time constraint
358
00:16:45.928 --> 00:16:49.450
because they're not comfortable or anything like that,
359
00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:51.820
but yeah, on the day that we did it,
360
00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:54.190
Guy was certainly not in that sort of state.
361
00:16:54.190 --> 00:16:55.930
He really was sitting there and playing Nintendo,
362
00:16:55.930 --> 00:16:57.620
Yeah, just playing, just going for it.
363
00:16:57.620 --> 00:16:58.453
Yeah.
364
00:16:59.790 --> 00:17:02.753
Yeah, but it's usually though,
365
00:17:02.753 --> 00:17:06.936
cause I kind of get what Liam's going for,
366
00:17:06.936 --> 00:17:11.903
not this pose type thing of just like,
367
00:17:11.903 --> 00:17:14.820
you like that candid type thing.
368
00:17:14.820 --> 00:17:19.080
So usually whenever you've painted or sketched
369
00:17:19.080 --> 00:17:23.020
it's me in this distracted moment or not distracted,
370
00:17:23.020 --> 00:17:25.700
but like a busy type thing.
371
00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:26.980
So I was kind of used to it.
372
00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:27.813
Yeah.
373
00:17:28.777 --> 00:17:32.534
So Liam, you're a successful portrait artist.
374
00:17:32.534 --> 00:17:36.930
Tell us about how you, well you became an actor,
375
00:17:36.930 --> 00:17:37.763
Yeah.
376
00:17:37.763 --> 00:17:40.800
How is it that you chose portraiture?
377
00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:43.200
What was it that made you want to do that?
378
00:17:44.842 --> 00:17:46.110
I mean, first of all,
379
00:17:46.110 --> 00:17:49.236
I did a lot of drawing and painting in high school
380
00:17:49.236 --> 00:17:51.569
and I knew loved art, I loved doing it.
381
00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:54.005
And for some reason I didn't go down that avenue.
382
00:17:54.005 --> 00:17:57.210
So I kind of already knew that I had that kind of impulse
383
00:17:57.210 --> 00:18:00.723
to draw, at least draw at that stage.
384
00:18:01.860 --> 00:18:04.660
And yeah, in about 2017,
385
00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:09.370
a friend took me to life drawing class and I just loved it.
386
00:18:09.370 --> 00:18:12.760
It was kind of- being an actor, you kind of sit around,
387
00:18:12.760 --> 00:18:15.330
waiting so long for other people to validate you
388
00:18:15.330 --> 00:18:18.370
by just getting an audition for something
389
00:18:18.370 --> 00:18:20.520
and just dying to be creative
390
00:18:20.520 --> 00:18:23.260
and not really feeling you're given the opportunity
391
00:18:23.260 --> 00:18:25.240
and you just sort of feel like you're waiting
392
00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:26.400
all the time for something.
393
00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:28.470
So it was kind of really good to find something
394
00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:31.853
that I felt like I was creatively in charge of.
395
00:18:34.085 --> 00:18:37.363
So that's where that kind of fled.
396
00:18:38.423 --> 00:18:42.580
I knew that I liked drawing people and faces
397
00:18:42.580 --> 00:18:46.070
and I'm not sure why, I'm sure I did try some still life.
398
00:18:46.070 --> 00:18:48.517
And I found that deathly boring.
399
00:18:48.517 --> 00:18:50.752
So I just kind of stuck with drawing
400
00:18:50.752 --> 00:18:54.827
and then a friend of mine...
401
00:18:54.827 --> 00:18:56.330
Oh, what came first?
402
00:18:56.330 --> 00:18:57.943
No, I sorta, I knew that I wanted
403
00:18:57.943 --> 00:18:59.403
to push onto painting somehow.
404
00:18:59.403 --> 00:19:01.508
I didn't really know how and I went and did like a one week
405
00:19:01.508 --> 00:19:05.580
course at NAS and I just got used to oils and I was quite
406
00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:10.160
surprised at what I could do in a short amount of time.
407
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.404
And I was like, I'm gonna do this.
408
00:19:12.404 --> 00:19:14.060
I'm gonna really give it a go.
409
00:19:14.060 --> 00:19:17.734
So I got a little studio space in Newtown
410
00:19:17.734 --> 00:19:21.109
and I was like, "I'm gonna rent it for a couple of months
411
00:19:21.109 --> 00:19:23.186
and just see if this works for me."
412
00:19:23.186 --> 00:19:26.026
And I found myself going there every spare moment
413
00:19:26.026 --> 00:19:29.363
that I had, and the first person I got to sit for me
414
00:19:29.363 --> 00:19:31.010
was my friend Johnny Hawkins.
415
00:19:31.010 --> 00:19:33.880
And that was the first portrait I'd really completed
416
00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:36.500
and put into the Lester Prize.
417
00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:40.239
And since then, I've just been really keen to keep,
418
00:19:40.239 --> 00:19:42.680
I'm not sure what it is, I don't really know what it is,
419
00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:44.040
but I love painting actors.
420
00:19:44.040 --> 00:19:45.980
I think for that reason that I can show something
421
00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:47.840
that other people aren't necessarily used
422
00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:50.947
to being able to see, that performance mode.
423
00:19:52.588 --> 00:19:56.674
Yeah, so I think that answers the question?
424
00:19:56.674 --> 00:19:57.507
Yeah.
425
00:19:57.507 --> 00:20:01.610
Yeah, it does, I saw an image of you on social media
426
00:20:01.610 --> 00:20:04.920
at your studio and you looked incredibly happy,
427
00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.490
which was wonderful, but you also were wearing gloves
428
00:20:07.490 --> 00:20:10.570
and you were talking about a reaction you were having
429
00:20:10.570 --> 00:20:13.090
to some of the materials you were using.
430
00:20:13.090 --> 00:20:15.840
Yeah, I've been told everyone that I've spoken
431
00:20:15.840 --> 00:20:18.271
to that I kind of was told to use gloves
432
00:20:18.271 --> 00:20:20.980
before I even started oil painting.
433
00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:24.730
There's specific colors that can have different reactions
434
00:20:24.730 --> 00:20:26.822
because of the different types of things
435
00:20:26.822 --> 00:20:28.155
the pigment comes from.
436
00:20:28.155 --> 00:20:29.667
I'm not a scientist or a chemist,
437
00:20:29.667 --> 00:20:31.208
so I don't know completely.
438
00:20:31.208 --> 00:20:32.041
(both laugh)
439
00:20:32.041 --> 00:20:34.685
But I do know early on I was getting a lot of paint
440
00:20:34.685 --> 00:20:36.970
on my skin and just getting little,
441
00:20:36.970 --> 00:20:39.220
little rashy things or the tiny things that I'm just like,
442
00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:41.000
maybe that's from the paint, I'm not sure.
443
00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:45.432
So I've just started to be a lot more careful, you know,
444
00:20:45.432 --> 00:20:46.689
where I get it.
445
00:20:46.689 --> 00:20:48.819
I still, I don't think I have an item of clothing
446
00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:51.120
that doesn't have a little bit of paint on it now, but-
447
00:20:51.120 --> 00:20:52.522
You're an artist aren't you?
448
00:20:52.522 --> 00:20:55.350
Yeah, I know, I just splashed my jeans just a little bit
449
00:20:55.350 --> 00:20:58.560
and just look really cool walking around Newtown.
450
00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:00.674
I belong here. (both laugh)
451
00:21:00.674 --> 00:21:04.830
Yeah, yeah, so I mean, I'll always wear gloves
452
00:21:04.830 --> 00:21:08.080
and often look in the mirror at the end of the day
453
00:21:08.080 --> 00:21:10.652
and I've got on my face, freak out.
454
00:21:10.652 --> 00:21:12.832
(both laugh)
455
00:21:12.832 --> 00:21:14.790
Guy, you're really familiar
456
00:21:14.790 --> 00:21:17.470
with being photographed and having to do publicity
457
00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:18.780
and all those sorts of things,
458
00:21:18.780 --> 00:21:20.950
probably more than most of us.
459
00:21:20.950 --> 00:21:25.463
But is it different to see yourself portrayed
460
00:21:25.463 --> 00:21:27.720
in a portrait in this way and particularly
461
00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:29.930
one that's done by someone you're close to?
462
00:21:29.930 --> 00:21:33.200
Yeah, completely, just that,
463
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.892
if there's a photo of something,
464
00:21:34.892 --> 00:21:38.060
someone can get an angle with you
465
00:21:38.060 --> 00:21:39.700
and play with the light or something
466
00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:41.210
and get some sort of aesthetic.
467
00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:46.210
But with this you can see how somebody sees you.
468
00:21:46.970 --> 00:21:48.876
Do you know what I mean?
469
00:21:48.876 --> 00:21:53.103
Like I've done a couple of like
470
00:21:53.103 --> 00:21:57.955
character building and stuff with-
471
00:21:59.120 --> 00:22:00.253
With photos?
472
00:22:00.253 --> 00:22:03.540
Yeah and especially with like,
473
00:22:03.540 --> 00:22:08.310
just recently I was playing someone with schizophrenia
474
00:22:08.310 --> 00:22:11.580
and like turning to portraits that people
475
00:22:11.580 --> 00:22:15.740
who have had schizophrenia that they've done
476
00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:18.950
in terms of like what they see and using that
477
00:22:18.950 --> 00:22:20.040
to get in their head.
478
00:22:20.040 --> 00:22:22.210
And I was like, "Oh, that's so interesting."
479
00:22:22.210 --> 00:22:23.650
It's the same thing with this.
480
00:22:23.650 --> 00:22:26.030
Like you can see how somebody sees you
481
00:22:26.030 --> 00:22:30.580
and just that light and you know what I mean?
482
00:22:30.580 --> 00:22:33.415
Like, well, the portrait is never, also,
483
00:22:33.415 --> 00:22:35.660
it's never just a portrait of the subject.
484
00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:38.667
I think it's always a portrait of the artist as well.
485
00:22:38.667 --> 00:22:40.810
Yeah - It's partly self portrait because it's always
486
00:22:40.810 --> 00:22:44.321
gonna be through the lens of whoever did the work. - Yep.
487
00:22:44.321 --> 00:22:46.580
So whether, I mean to, or not,
488
00:22:46.580 --> 00:22:50.020
there's always gonna be my kind of take
489
00:22:50.020 --> 00:22:53.910
on who you are or who the subject is.
490
00:22:53.910 --> 00:22:56.690
Yeah, and that's what I really like about it.
491
00:22:56.690 --> 00:22:59.163
And especially because my friend's done it,
492
00:22:59.163 --> 00:23:03.110
like you can see through them. I dunno,
493
00:23:03.110 --> 00:23:04.860
that sounds a bit like, (sings) "Doo, doo, doo, doo"
494
00:23:04.860 --> 00:23:06.630
But like, - You can see right up in there
495
00:23:06.630 --> 00:23:08.857
You know what I mean?
496
00:23:08.857 --> 00:23:12.939
And just the, like how you, I don't know.
497
00:23:12.939 --> 00:23:13.947
I really like...
498
00:23:15.322 --> 00:23:16.922
I really liked, I don't know,
499
00:23:16.922 --> 00:23:18.840
it sounds like such a wanky thing,
500
00:23:18.840 --> 00:23:22.890
but I really enjoy seeing myself 'cause another friend
501
00:23:22.890 --> 00:23:25.849
has done it and you get to see yourself
502
00:23:25.849 --> 00:23:30.715
through someone else's eyes. Through their brain.
503
00:23:30.715 --> 00:23:33.206
Yeah, I mean, it's gonna be so incredibly different.
504
00:23:33.206 --> 00:23:35.739
Yeah, completely. - Yeah
505
00:23:35.739 --> 00:23:39.689
I started watching, there's this TV show on
506
00:23:39.689 --> 00:23:43.110
it's on SBS, on demand called Portrait Artist Of The Year.
507
00:23:43.110 --> 00:23:46.160
Some of you have seen it and they'll have
508
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.930
one sort of celebrity seat and a whole bunch
509
00:23:48.930 --> 00:23:51.025
of artists sit around and paint them.
510
00:23:51.025 --> 00:23:52.710
And it's just incredible to kind of,
511
00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:55.130
you don't even think that you have a style or anything until
512
00:23:55.130 --> 00:24:00.130
you kind of start, like other people will see it - Yeah
513
00:24:00.560 --> 00:24:02.250
when you can't, but it's really interesting
514
00:24:02.250 --> 00:24:04.700
sort of being able to see people's different
515
00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:05.995
takes on someone.
516
00:24:05.995 --> 00:24:08.305
There is something that I really like about your stuff,
517
00:24:08.305 --> 00:24:10.700
especially like you just sketches and whatnot,
518
00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:14.892
you get limbs and hands and fingers and toes and stuff.
519
00:24:14.892 --> 00:24:16.637
Like, I don't know that the attention to detail
520
00:24:16.637 --> 00:24:18.871
I love drawing them, and I hate painting them.
521
00:24:18.871 --> 00:24:19.704
Oh yeah, right.
522
00:24:19.704 --> 00:24:20.771
I don't know
(overlapping) - They're hard.
523
00:24:20.771 --> 00:24:22.578
I think you really got my hands there.
524
00:24:22.578 --> 00:24:23.978
Actually these are the easiest hands-
525
00:24:23.978 --> 00:24:26.016
I'm always drawn to that there.
526
00:24:26.016 --> 00:24:28.350
Yeah. I don't know this painting
527
00:24:28.350 --> 00:24:29.820
took me like four days to do,
528
00:24:29.820 --> 00:24:31.940
which is like nothing compared
529
00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:33.110
to some of the other paintings
530
00:24:33.110 --> 00:24:35.020
I've spent months on some of them.
531
00:24:35.020 --> 00:24:39.983
And I was really quite happy with how quickly I did that.
532
00:24:39.983 --> 00:24:41.416
(both laugh)
533
00:24:41.416 --> 00:24:43.580
Cause I was like, "Oh God, this is going to be
534
00:24:43.580 --> 00:24:45.439
like four weeks on the hands alone."
535
00:24:45.439 --> 00:24:47.105
But yeah, some days you have good days,
536
00:24:47.105 --> 00:24:49.060
where it just happens really fast.
537
00:24:49.060 --> 00:24:54.060
And then weeks months of nothing sometimes, yeah.
538
00:24:56.757 --> 00:24:59.909
So maybe Liam, tell me about the relationship
539
00:24:59.909 --> 00:25:03.320
between being an actor yourself and a portrait artist.
540
00:25:03.320 --> 00:25:06.850
How do you see those things connecting or different?
541
00:25:06.850 --> 00:25:11.825
I think that a lot of my work
542
00:25:11.825 --> 00:25:13.408
as a portrait artist
543
00:25:13.408 --> 00:25:16.039
or what I'm trying to become as a portrait artist
544
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:21.039
started with acting like the investigation of character
545
00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:25.913
and nuance of character, that all started with acting
546
00:25:25.913 --> 00:25:30.046
and the study of
547
00:25:30.046 --> 00:25:32.029
theater and character
548
00:25:32.029 --> 00:25:33.220
and all that sort of thing.
549
00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:35.880
So I think that's just sort of intensified
550
00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:40.865
or I was already interested in people and behavior,
551
00:25:40.865 --> 00:25:44.660
and how much of a story you can tell
552
00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:46.730
with as little as you can.
553
00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:50.220
I think that's been helpful, you know,
554
00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:52.876
having that kind of background, yeah.
555
00:25:54.175 --> 00:25:57.162
I've got a couple of questions coming through
556
00:25:57.162 --> 00:25:59.837
from our virtual audience. (laughs)
557
00:25:59.837 --> 00:26:01.790
And also potentially relative.
558
00:26:01.790 --> 00:26:05.021
(sings) Oh. - Say their name, who is it?
559
00:26:05.021 --> 00:26:09.925
Oh, not a question from relative yet, but an observer.
560
00:26:09.925 --> 00:26:10.758
(chuckles)
561
00:26:10.758 --> 00:26:14.440
One of the first questions is what sort of games,
562
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:17.016
and I'm assuming- (laughs and claps)
563
00:26:17.016 --> 00:26:18.803
I knew this question was gonna come.
564
00:26:18.803 --> 00:26:20.328
Right before this, I was like,
565
00:26:20.328 --> 00:26:22.818
"Someone who's gonna ask what games you play."
566
00:26:22.818 --> 00:26:24.040
But there's a second question,
567
00:26:24.040 --> 00:26:25.090
second part of that question.
568
00:26:25.090 --> 00:26:28.110
Do you find yourself analyzing performances in the games
569
00:26:28.110 --> 00:26:30.960
you play or is it strictly just for an escape?
570
00:26:32.176 --> 00:26:33.551
Huh.
571
00:26:34.770 --> 00:26:35.754
Cause you did-
572
00:26:35.754 --> 00:26:38.293
Analyzing my own performance or like,
573
00:26:39.270 --> 00:26:42.320
What was the, do you remember what game game that was?
574
00:26:42.320 --> 00:26:45.535
You were very into unnamed goose game at the time.
575
00:26:45.535 --> 00:26:46.368
(laughs)
576
00:26:46.368 --> 00:26:49.160
Yeah, the goose game where you,
577
00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:51.080
I think I was either playing that or Animal Crossing,
578
00:26:51.080 --> 00:26:53.990
but the goose game I was addicted to because you play
579
00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:56.620
this goose who just goes around town,
580
00:26:56.620 --> 00:26:59.956
like stealing pies and bells and like- (audience laughs)
581
00:26:59.956 --> 00:27:01.335
I don't get the point at all but.
582
00:27:01.335 --> 00:27:04.180
And just honking at people.
583
00:27:04.180 --> 00:27:06.267
I was just like, that was distracting me.
584
00:27:06.267 --> 00:27:09.450
And it was great, but Animal Crossing as well, like you,
585
00:27:09.450 --> 00:27:13.170
you're this little person that goes into... on this Island
586
00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:16.050
and you make all these friends and you build up this Island
587
00:27:16.050 --> 00:27:19.416
and you sell apples and stuff like that. (audience laughs)
588
00:27:19.416 --> 00:27:22.770
But other times I really liked like Zelda
589
00:27:22.770 --> 00:27:24.070
where I'm slashing people.
590
00:27:24.070 --> 00:27:25.290
Okay.
591
00:27:25.290 --> 00:27:26.716
Killing things.
592
00:27:26.716 --> 00:27:27.791
Yep.
593
00:27:27.791 --> 00:27:32.791
But do I analyze the performances in the games-
594
00:27:32.791 --> 00:27:34.643
Recently you were talking about what was that?
595
00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:38.850
Sort of zombie one or something just about a month ago
596
00:27:38.850 --> 00:27:41.200
and you were like obsessed with the storyline of it
597
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:44.160
and the kind of graphics of it all.
598
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.292
And the performance of it, I guess.
599
00:27:46.292 --> 00:27:47.570
The Last of Us, that's a PlayStation game.
600
00:27:47.570 --> 00:27:48.403
Right.
601
00:27:48.403 --> 00:27:49.628
Not Nintendo (audience laughs)
602
00:27:49.628 --> 00:27:51.278
but they...
603
00:27:51.278 --> 00:27:54.253
the character acting in that is amazing.
604
00:27:54.253 --> 00:27:56.929
Cause they, they do the mo-cap type thing.
605
00:27:56.929 --> 00:27:57.978
Mo-cap, what is-
606
00:27:57.978 --> 00:27:59.265
Motion Capture. - Oh!
607
00:27:59.265 --> 00:28:00.098
(both laughs)
608
00:28:00.098 --> 00:28:01.480
For those who don't know.
609
00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:02.420
Have you done any of that?
610
00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:03.681
where they-
611
00:28:03.681 --> 00:28:04.514
No, I wish.
612
00:28:04.514 --> 00:28:06.200
I've got so many actor friends that get all that work.
613
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:09.815
Yeah, I'm not symmetrical enough.
614
00:28:09.815 --> 00:28:10.770
(chuckles)
615
00:28:10.770 --> 00:28:12.410
But they, The Last of Us.
616
00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:15.330
Yeah, I analyze those performances and stuff.
617
00:28:15.330 --> 00:28:17.643
If it's a game like that, that's what I do.
618
00:28:18.573 --> 00:28:20.539
I've got a question for Liam.
619
00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:21.372
Yeah.
620
00:28:21.372 --> 00:28:23.110
How do you know when a portrait is finished?
621
00:28:23.110 --> 00:28:23.943
Oh!
622
00:28:24.801 --> 00:28:28.610
I'll usually think the portrait is finished
623
00:28:28.610 --> 00:28:30.240
and then I'll come back the next-
624
00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:33.726
and then it begins a new phase where it's like,
625
00:28:33.726 --> 00:28:35.863
I will take a photo of that portrait
626
00:28:35.863 --> 00:28:36.779
and I will go home,
627
00:28:36.779 --> 00:28:37.612
and for about three days,
628
00:28:37.612 --> 00:28:39.990
I'll be obsessively looking at it and I'll get my little
629
00:28:39.990 --> 00:28:41.650
paint function out and circle bits.
630
00:28:41.650 --> 00:28:42.960
And going no, that's got to lift.
631
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:44.120
That's going to go down.
632
00:28:44.120 --> 00:28:47.750
So to nip and tuck it kind of thing on my screen.
633
00:28:47.750 --> 00:28:50.220
And then I'll go in and make tiny little adjustments
634
00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:53.373
and do that again and that will last sometimes weeks.
635
00:28:54.246 --> 00:28:57.236
I didn't do that with this, I really,
636
00:28:57.236 --> 00:29:00.990
this didn't end up where I was expecting it to go,
637
00:29:00.990 --> 00:29:05.990
but I was really happy with how kind of halfway there,
638
00:29:06.450 --> 00:29:11.160
it was for me in terms of there's an unfinished quality
639
00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:14.190
to it or something compared to some of my other work
640
00:29:15.115 --> 00:29:17.620
where I just felt like, "Stop it, put the brush down."
641
00:29:17.620 --> 00:29:22.270
Cause sometimes I've definitely gone too far sometimes
642
00:29:22.270 --> 00:29:24.660
and it takes a long... and where you think
643
00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:26.967
you're making it better and then you're like,
644
00:29:26.967 --> 00:29:28.300
"Oh God, have I had done?
645
00:29:28.300 --> 00:29:31.280
And then you spend four weeks trying to get back
646
00:29:31.280 --> 00:29:32.653
to what it was, yeah.
647
00:29:32.653 --> 00:29:33.486
(both laughs)
648
00:29:33.486 --> 00:29:36.000
That sort of leads into more of a comment
649
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.175
that has come from Anthea Da Silver,
650
00:29:38.175 --> 00:29:39.830
who is the winner of the Darling Portrait Prize,
651
00:29:39.830 --> 00:29:41.470
who's joining us today.
652
00:29:41.470 --> 00:29:44.068
And she said, "Congratulations on the hands.
653
00:29:44.068 --> 00:29:46.300
Great to know when to step away and go, "wow, got them."
654
00:29:46.300 --> 00:29:48.280
And then just leave them alone."
655
00:29:48.280 --> 00:29:50.454
I do have to say, cause this is the first time
656
00:29:50.454 --> 00:29:51.545
I've seen the exhibition today.
657
00:29:51.545 --> 00:29:55.040
And when you see them on your computer screen,
658
00:29:55.040 --> 00:29:57.810
you have very different ideas about all of them
659
00:29:57.810 --> 00:30:00.183
and which ones you're really drawn to.
660
00:30:01.056 --> 00:30:04.610
And I just, I mean, hers was one of my favorites,
661
00:30:04.610 --> 00:30:07.060
but having seen it in the flesh,
662
00:30:07.060 --> 00:30:10.760
it's just extraordinary and such a worthy winner.
663
00:30:10.760 --> 00:30:14.642
I think she's amazing. (To camera) You're amazing.
664
00:30:14.642 --> 00:30:15.475
(all laugh)
665
00:30:15.475 --> 00:30:16.576
I think so too.
666
00:30:17.510 --> 00:30:18.343
We've got a question,
667
00:30:18.343 --> 00:30:20.710
"Guy, You're the subject of Liam's art here.
668
00:30:20.710 --> 00:30:23.660
Do you have an example of when Liam has been the subject of,
669
00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:25.527
or inspiration for your art?"
670
00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:28.152
No, I don't.
671
00:30:28.152 --> 00:30:29.677
(both laugh)
672
00:30:29.677 --> 00:30:31.160
Based an characters on or...?
673
00:30:32.436 --> 00:30:37.436
For my art, for my art, I don't.
674
00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:40.997
Can you say that question again?
675
00:30:40.997 --> 00:30:41.830
Yeah, I can.
676
00:30:41.830 --> 00:30:43.678
You're the subject of Liam's art.
677
00:30:43.678 --> 00:30:44.511
Yeah.
678
00:30:44.511 --> 00:30:46.833
Do you have an example of when Liam
679
00:30:46.833 --> 00:30:49.637
has been the subject of, or inspiration for your art?
680
00:30:51.383 --> 00:30:52.800
I don't think I do.
681
00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:54.307
You're a bad friend.
682
00:30:54.307 --> 00:30:55.140
(all laughs)
683
00:30:55.140 --> 00:30:56.529
I don't know when I'm gonna use you
684
00:30:56.529 --> 00:30:58.965
as my character drop-ins.
685
00:30:58.965 --> 00:31:00.169
(both laughs)
686
00:31:00.169 --> 00:31:02.514
Liam, Liam, Liam, Liam, boof.
687
00:31:02.514 --> 00:31:04.539
(both laugh)
688
00:31:04.539 --> 00:31:07.505
No, I don't think I do...
689
00:31:08.416 --> 00:31:11.052
There've been a couple of times where...
690
00:31:14.044 --> 00:31:15.893
sometimes I use friends- have decide
691
00:31:15.893 --> 00:31:17.584
what they do, what would they do?
692
00:31:17.584 --> 00:31:19.510
There's been a couple of times, yeah.
693
00:31:19.510 --> 00:31:21.702
Energy-wise, you've got a,
694
00:31:21.702 --> 00:31:23.450
you've got a certain energy on stage.
695
00:31:23.450 --> 00:31:24.283
Right.
696
00:31:25.482 --> 00:31:26.920
That I used to siphon off.
697
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:28.639
And just go, "Oh," how do like,
698
00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:30.320
"What would Liam do" in terms of like that.
699
00:31:30.320 --> 00:31:34.690
You're really great on screen and using that,
700
00:31:34.690 --> 00:31:36.070
oh, there we go.
701
00:31:36.070 --> 00:31:38.178
Thinking about Liam too,
702
00:31:38.178 --> 00:31:42.990
in terms of like how quickly you can move on screen
703
00:31:42.990 --> 00:31:45.970
without making it too big.
704
00:31:45.970 --> 00:31:47.608
Right, okay, thank you.
705
00:31:47.608 --> 00:31:48.686
There we go.
706
00:31:48.686 --> 00:31:49.636
(all laugh)
707
00:31:49.636 --> 00:31:50.802
I hope my agent's watching.
708
00:31:50.802 --> 00:31:51.635
Yeah.
709
00:31:51.635 --> 00:31:52.468
(all laughs)
710
00:31:52.468 --> 00:31:55.134
He's great on screen. Give him a job.
711
00:31:56.540 --> 00:31:58.360
Liam, do you think you'll paint actors
712
00:31:58.360 --> 00:32:00.540
that you don't know or those that you only have
713
00:32:00.540 --> 00:32:03.630
a personal connection with or context with?
714
00:32:03.630 --> 00:32:06.160
I think I will and I have, I've been,
715
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:10.780
I got commissioned to do a painting of beautiful Annie Byron
716
00:32:10.780 --> 00:32:12.810
who was an actress who I've known of,
717
00:32:12.810 --> 00:32:16.600
but I did not know. She made it very easy because I kind of,
718
00:32:16.600 --> 00:32:19.683
we had such a great rapport straight away when I met her.
719
00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:25.620
I think it is easier to know the person. I think,
720
00:32:25.620 --> 00:32:30.537
but maybe not, I mean, I'd love to sort of
721
00:32:30.537 --> 00:32:33.960
stretch what I know I'm comfortable with doing
722
00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:37.158
and to be able to get sitters that I don't know.
723
00:32:37.158 --> 00:32:40.520
And, you know, I think that's just as interesting
724
00:32:40.520 --> 00:32:44.150
to be able to give my take on someone who I don't know,
725
00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:48.060
as well as someone like Guy, but yes, yes.
726
00:32:48.060 --> 00:32:50.673
I would love to one day, I'm sure, yeah.
727
00:32:52.840 --> 00:32:54.570
And Guy has this painting made
728
00:32:54.570 --> 00:32:56.712
you look at yourself differently?
729
00:33:00.210 --> 00:33:01.320
The posture.
730
00:33:01.320 --> 00:33:03.045
My posture.
731
00:33:03.045 --> 00:33:05.684
(all laughs)
732
00:33:06.709 --> 00:33:09.848
Has it made me look at myself differently?
733
00:33:10.970 --> 00:33:13.772
Those conversations opened up a lot more
734
00:33:13.772 --> 00:33:16.189
once we were talking about...
735
00:33:16.189 --> 00:33:17.200
So kind of you sort of-
736
00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.010
Yeah, I guess that's what it would be.
737
00:33:20.010 --> 00:33:25.010
Just not feeling like having to be some sort,
738
00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:29.390
like keeping it in and dealing with whatever
739
00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:31.356
it is by yourself. Like,
740
00:33:35.465 --> 00:33:37.278
What am I...
741
00:33:37.278 --> 00:33:39.732
Not romanticizing this whole thing
742
00:33:39.732 --> 00:33:42.820
of like the person who deals with it by themselves
743
00:33:42.820 --> 00:33:44.010
and then getting through it by themselves.
744
00:33:44.010 --> 00:33:46.250
It's like, no, like use other people with like,
745
00:33:46.250 --> 00:33:48.240
speak about it. - Yeah.
746
00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.950
And that was a good speaking point
747
00:33:49.950 --> 00:33:51.907
'cause I did come to you and say listen,
748
00:33:51.907 --> 00:33:53.707
I've got this idea where I think I wanna take it.
749
00:33:53.707 --> 00:33:56.250
And that kind of opened up a conversation going like,
750
00:33:56.250 --> 00:33:57.726
Well, what is it like for you?
751
00:33:57.726 --> 00:33:58.876
Yeah.
752
00:33:58.876 --> 00:34:01.050
Because I think that's kind of helps to be-
753
00:34:01.050 --> 00:34:01.883
Yeah.
754
00:34:02.967 --> 00:34:05.670
To be able to look back in that kind of way?
755
00:34:05.670 --> 00:34:09.830
Like, it's a good reminder just to talk about it
756
00:34:09.830 --> 00:34:12.150
because up until that point
757
00:34:12.150 --> 00:34:16.120
I guess I just kind of kept it to myself
758
00:34:16.120 --> 00:34:17.295
and kept it private.
759
00:34:17.295 --> 00:34:22.278
And only spoke to like, my partner or family or whatever.
760
00:34:23.230 --> 00:34:24.955
Or just someone who's caught me
761
00:34:24.955 --> 00:34:26.711
in a moment or, you know.
762
00:34:26.711 --> 00:34:27.544
Yep.
763
00:34:27.544 --> 00:34:30.501
But knowing that like it's so okay
764
00:34:30.501 --> 00:34:32.160
to talk about it.
765
00:34:32.160 --> 00:34:34.450
Yeah, it's yeah, it's funny
766
00:34:34.450 --> 00:34:37.140
how many people just recently with COVID and everything,
767
00:34:37.140 --> 00:34:38.960
the theater industry is just shut down,
768
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:42.120
but how many people have likened it to how they're kind of
769
00:34:42.120 --> 00:34:43.710
what they're feeling at the moment.
770
00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:48.710
Just kind of like not able to create and you know that,
771
00:34:49.547 --> 00:34:52.590
yeah, the idea of "Post-show blues" is kind of amongst
772
00:34:52.590 --> 00:34:56.100
a lot of theater people and film people right now I think.
773
00:34:56.100 --> 00:35:00.000
Especially, you know, cause so many people,
774
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.953
a big part of your work is the dream time.
775
00:35:04.953 --> 00:35:07.423
And that is the preparation up until like,
776
00:35:07.423 --> 00:35:09.570
if you got a season happening in August,
777
00:35:09.570 --> 00:35:12.020
you'll spend all that month before like thinking
778
00:35:12.020 --> 00:35:13.710
about choices and whatnot.
779
00:35:13.710 --> 00:35:15.490
It's great, even if it's not for months away
780
00:35:15.490 --> 00:35:16.639
just knowing- - Yes.
781
00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:18.150
there's something coming.
782
00:35:18.150 --> 00:35:19.632
Yeah, and when your show's been axed
783
00:35:19.632 --> 00:35:22.981
there's your "Post-Show blues," what am I gonna do there?
784
00:35:23.830 --> 00:35:25.730
Use that time to talk about.
785
00:35:25.730 --> 00:35:29.545
You know? - Yeah.
786
00:35:29.545 --> 00:35:32.381
I guess, yeah, that's a good reminder.
787
00:35:34.080 --> 00:35:36.180
I was wondering any of the people,
788
00:35:36.180 --> 00:35:38.338
we have a few real life people.
789
00:35:38.338 --> 00:35:39.705
Wow, real life.
790
00:35:39.705 --> 00:35:42.350
I'm sure all those lovely people watching
791
00:35:42.350 --> 00:35:43.903
from home are also real life,
792
00:35:43.903 --> 00:35:46.955
but we have a few people in the flesh here and I'm wondering
793
00:35:46.955 --> 00:35:50.580
if they might like, or have a question for, yeah.
794
00:35:50.580 --> 00:35:51.800
I get to hold the mic?
795
00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:53.810
You get to hold the Microphone.
796
00:35:53.810 --> 00:35:56.170
What's next in both of your practices?
797
00:35:56.170 --> 00:35:58.653
Like what are you both working on at the moment?
798
00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:05.190
I am, well, acting-wise sort of nothing.
799
00:36:05.190 --> 00:36:08.251
I had a show canceled this year as everyone has,
800
00:36:08.251 --> 00:36:10.255
hopefully that's gonna be coming back next year,
801
00:36:10.255 --> 00:36:13.090
American Psycho, The Musical,
802
00:36:13.090 --> 00:36:14.740
which will be coming to Canberra.
803
00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:20.860
Yes, fingers crossed it'll, you know, things get better.
804
00:36:21.043 --> 00:36:24.759
Painting-wise, I'm currently doing a painting of my friend,
805
00:36:24.759 --> 00:36:28.670
an incredible person Wesley Enoch.
806
00:36:29.543 --> 00:36:33.310
And I think that actually might be my last portrait
807
00:36:33.310 --> 00:36:34.447
for a little while.
808
00:36:34.447 --> 00:36:36.750
Cause I've been wanting to be able to sort of try,
809
00:36:36.750 --> 00:36:38.410
not that I've had any experience in it yet,
810
00:36:38.410 --> 00:36:41.517
but to move into landscapes and abstract
811
00:36:41.517 --> 00:36:44.873
and I've got a real interest for that kind of painting.
812
00:36:44.873 --> 00:36:49.190
So I'm going to kind of, yeah,
813
00:36:49.190 --> 00:36:51.632
see where that takes me after this one.
814
00:36:52.680 --> 00:36:55.208
What have you got? What are you doing?
815
00:36:55.208 --> 00:36:57.907
Next week, August is the window.
816
00:36:57.907 --> 00:36:59.843
So everyone's like, "let's do it."
817
00:37:00.790 --> 00:37:03.307
I was filming a series just before COVID
818
00:37:03.307 --> 00:37:07.100
and that got paralyzed and now is the time to do it.
819
00:37:07.100 --> 00:37:10.631
So we're just about to go back in and do that.
820
00:37:10.631 --> 00:37:13.990
At the same time juggling rehearsals at Belvoir
821
00:37:13.990 --> 00:37:15.700
for My Brilliant Career,
822
00:37:15.700 --> 00:37:19.700
which we're gonna rehearse and keep it for when
823
00:37:19.700 --> 00:37:22.500
the theater opens, I guess.
824
00:37:23.458 --> 00:37:28.140
So busy, yeah.
825
00:37:28.140 --> 00:37:31.350
It's very weird to sort of tentatively prepare?
826
00:37:31.350 --> 00:37:33.160
Yeah.
827
00:37:33.160 --> 00:37:36.414
Not really knowing where things are gonna be
828
00:37:36.414 --> 00:37:37.670
in the next week, tomorrow?
829
00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:40.480
Cause it's weird, like the butterflies are just
830
00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:42.279
kind of, like (makes noise)
831
00:37:42.279 --> 00:37:44.853
like usually they are (rolls tongue) let's fly in formation,
832
00:37:44.853 --> 00:37:46.080
come on, let's go.
833
00:37:46.080 --> 00:37:49.370
But it's just kind of, they're just there.
834
00:37:49.370 --> 00:37:51.670
It's kind of, it's nice I guess.
835
00:37:51.670 --> 00:37:55.230
Yeah, cause you know, you've got time. - And it's hopeful.
836
00:37:55.230 --> 00:37:56.063
Yeah.
837
00:37:57.270 --> 00:37:58.480
Cool, anyone else?
838
00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:00.530
Yeah, Neil, who's been one of our regulars
839
00:38:00.530 --> 00:38:03.438
on our virtual tours and virtual programs, hello Neil.
840
00:38:03.438 --> 00:38:04.271
Hi Neil.
841
00:38:04.271 --> 00:38:06.180
He said that, "With painting,
842
00:38:06.180 --> 00:38:09.025
what artists have inspired you in your painting?"
843
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.840
I mean, I think the kind of pinnacle
844
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:17.725
for me is Lucian Freud.
845
00:38:17.725 --> 00:38:20.410
I don't know how much he sort of comes across in my work,
846
00:38:20.410 --> 00:38:24.670
but I just never get sick of look...
847
00:38:24.670 --> 00:38:27.320
I could look at one of his paintings for days
848
00:38:27.320 --> 00:38:29.120
and just like never get tired of it.
849
00:38:32.104 --> 00:38:35.630
I'm, oh no, I'm going to say her name wrong.
850
00:38:35.630 --> 00:38:40.165
There's an artist, Loribelle Spirovski...
851
00:38:40.165 --> 00:38:41.790
I'm going to get trouble.
852
00:38:41.790 --> 00:38:45.340
Laura Bell, I'm going to say it wrong. Loribelle Spirovski
853
00:38:45.340 --> 00:38:48.040
I think, I think I'm probably saying it wrong,
854
00:38:48.040 --> 00:38:50.140
but I just, I absolutely adore her work.
855
00:38:50.140 --> 00:38:55.140
She sort of does sort of abstract portraiture and figurative
856
00:38:56.310 --> 00:38:59.685
kind of stuff, I think she's really, really fascinating.
857
00:38:59.685 --> 00:39:01.748
Neil loves Lucien Freud too
858
00:39:01.748 --> 00:39:03.553
and he thinks he comes across in your work.
859
00:39:03.553 --> 00:39:04.853
Thank you, Neil.
860
00:39:04.853 --> 00:39:06.290
(laughs)
861
00:39:06.290 --> 00:39:08.431
Any more questions from the audience
862
00:39:08.431 --> 00:39:09.856
before we wrap up?
863
00:39:09.856 --> 00:39:11.588
We probably have one time for one more.
864
00:39:14.080 --> 00:39:16.441
No, no questions? - Anyone?
865
00:39:16.441 --> 00:39:18.459
No worries, over to Karen.
866
00:39:18.459 --> 00:39:19.650
Karen, I'll give you the microphone darl.
867
00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:22.890
Thank you so much for, oh, sorry.
868
00:39:22.890 --> 00:39:24.770
I've got a big voice, it'll be okay.
869
00:39:24.770 --> 00:39:27.240
Thank you both so much for coming out,
870
00:39:27.240 --> 00:39:32.070
traveling and being with us today and sharing those really
871
00:39:32.070 --> 00:39:36.810
intimate insights actually into art and life
872
00:39:36.810 --> 00:39:40.470
and both your practices and your relationship
873
00:39:40.470 --> 00:39:42.040
to one another.
874
00:39:42.040 --> 00:39:44.840
I think it was a fantastic conversation.
875
00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:46.623
Thank you. - Yeah, thanks for having us.
876
00:39:46.623 --> 00:39:49.550
Yeah look, we wish you all the best with your projects,
877
00:39:49.550 --> 00:39:53.912
your theatrical projects and your film projects, both of you
878
00:39:53.912 --> 00:39:55.260
Thank you.
879
00:39:55.260 --> 00:39:58.154
But you too with your practice as an artist,
880
00:39:58.154 --> 00:40:00.400
because it's so exciting to see your success
881
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:04.210
and your growth and your passion and the beautiful work
882
00:40:04.210 --> 00:40:05.290
that you're producing.
883
00:40:05.290 --> 00:40:09.200
And it's just great to hear more about it from both of you.
884
00:40:09.200 --> 00:40:10.160
Thank you so much.
885
00:40:10.160 --> 00:40:11.413
Thank you, Karen.
886
00:40:11.413 --> 00:40:14.450
And thank you all for joining us today in real form.
887
00:40:14.450 --> 00:40:15.980
And in virtual form.
888
00:40:15.980 --> 00:40:17.130
We'll see you again soon.
889
00:40:17.130 --> 00:40:20.302
Thanks for coming to the National Portrait Gallery.
890
00:40:20.302 --> 00:40:21.588
Thank you.
891
00:40:21.588 --> 00:40:23.671
(laughs)