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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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My life as a spotted gum, 2024

Ali Marshall

Darling Portrait Prize 2024 Finalist

oil on canvas (support: 122.0cm x 90.0cm. frame: 124.1cm x 93.2cm depth 5.5cm)
My life as a spotted gum, 2024

Ali Marshall
born Australia 1958

My life as a spotted gum 2024
oil on canvas

‘I decided to paint a self portrait highlighting an autoimmune disease with which I have recently been diagnosed. Vitiligo causes loss of skin colour in patches. It’s difficult to predict how the disease will progress and there is no cure. I am fortunate to live in an area where there are some beautiful spotted gum trees. They remind me of my Vitiligo, as they shed their bark and develop interesting variations in colour. Here, I am showing how the mind can sometimes exaggerate your predicament while the reality is not as evident. I am the spotted gum but the mirror shows a different me.’

Ali Marshall is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based artist working predominantly as a figurative and landscape painter. She is drawn to both landscapes and still life for inspiration and finds the human form endlessly fascinating.


© The artist

Darling Portrait Prize 2024
(More information, View all 24 paintings)

Related information

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William Nuttall with horses in field, 2023 Noel McKenna

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

Previous exhibition, 2024

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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