Josonia Palaitis Ray Martin

Josonia Palaitis’s subject is television compere and journalist Ray Martin depicted in a domestic setting. At home, Ray is a family man with a passion for photography. Each of the photographs in the background is a cameo of his private life.

The portrait allows Palaitis to show her individual style of highly representational realism characterised by meticulous detail. Reflecting the hours of research that go into a painting, a number of sittings are held, hundreds of reference photographs taken, and several preliminary watercolour sketches made before she begins to paint on canvas. This method which takes months of intense concentration. According to Palaitis: 'There are … few short cuts in this type of realism’.

The artist is fascinated with illusion and the manipulation of space and is 'constantly experimenting with the possibilities of combining classical perspective, optical illusion and symbolic space’ with this particular portrait being full of complex spatial rhythms.