Mossman artist set to shine at new exhibition
LOCAL ARTIST
A pure passion for creating realistic portraits has landed one young Mossman artist front and center at a new exhibition in Cairns.
Mossman artist Emily Oorthuysen is set to have her work featured at the Tanks Art Centre in Cairns in March this year.
Emily’s realistic portrait of her partner James Taylor will be on display at the Tanks as part of the Flame 2023 International Women’s Day Exhibition.
“It’s the second time I have entered the exhibition,” Miss Oorthuysen said.
“It’s a great opportunity for young female artists who are starting out because you get a mentor who helps you.”
The realistic portrait took almost 15 hours for Emily to complete with charcoal, graphite pencils and paper.
She said her partner always wanted to be a feature in her artwork so she decided to immortalize an image she was inspired by.
The Flame mentorship program will aim to encourage young women to develop a network of support and collaborate with other emerging artists and maintain an arts practice within their region.
Being creative has always been a comfort to Emily, who started drawing seven years ago when she moved to Mossman.
“I’ve always been an artsy kid, I moved here in Grade 6 and I didn’t know anyone so I just started drawing and people said it was amazing,” she said.
“Art is a way of communicating without actually talking. A lot of different things inspire me, I really love it and it makes people happy.
“It’s a therapeutic thing for me to be able to express emotions in a different way.”
Miss Oorthuysen has already sold some of her work and has prints featured at the Book Lounge in Port Douglas.
Emily said winning Arts and Culture Award at the Douglas Shire Council Australia Day awards was a big confidence booster.
The Arts and Culture Award will only add to the long list of accolades for this young emerging artist, including her first prize at the Young Archie’s Exhibition for portraiture.
Flame 2023 is a free exhibition and will launch on Saturday, March 4 at 6pm and will be open from 9am to 4:30pm on weekdays and 10am to 2pm on weekends.