David Fairbairn (artist)

David Fairbairn (born 1949), is an Australian painter and printmaker who was the winner of the Dobell Prize for Drawing in 1999. He has been selected as a Dobell Prize Finalist fifteen times, won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2002 and has been exhibited in the Archibald Prize eight times. Fairbairn teaches at the National Art School, Sydney. Quotes My work is a self portrait and was done without my glasses on I’m really interested in analysing the structures under the glasses and they got in the way. I just got irritated because I couldn’t see into the eyes and the sockets clearly enough.” All my portraits are really just ways of containing information about making drawings and paintings. I don’t necessarily see them as being about portraiture.” I build up successive layers of different media until I define the image. It includes a variety of images from the bush, the heads of other people, a whole medley of other information. Since 1984 I have been making portraits and now felt the need to re-evaluate my approach. I have chosen myself as subject in order to consider the psychology of the person as well as the physical appearance. This has also led to a more emotive investigation of the subject. External links Category: living people Category:Painters from Australia Category: printmakers Category:1949 births