Finalist 2017 Black Swan Portrait Prize

"Boy" is a portrait of my 11 year old son. As he approaches his teenage years his
identity is developing. I have observed that he encounters a society that does not
prioritise masculine sensitivity and beauty. This portrait uses symbolic motifs that
represent beauty, transcendence, spirituality and mortality. This work references a
painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, "Portrait of Martin Luther as an Augustinian
Monk" (1523). I can present my son as a monk, calm and beautiful, but he alone will
develop his own identity. I can only assist by presenting an alternative reflection.