Emily Portmann

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2025 - Finalist

_{Image courtesy of the artist}

Artist Statement

Self Soother, Action Two is part of an ongoing photographic series which plays with bodily actions that respond to immaterial spaces, centring on how psychological sites can be given physical presence and the relationships in such actions. As a neurodivergent artist, Portman examines these shifting psychological landscapes through the use of self-portraiture and notions of self-soothing behaviours, such as the cradling of a doppelgänger’s second head in her arms. The tenderness of which the head is held lends to a surreal quality as the figure tries to sooth the internal discomforts of shifting perceptions and outsider experiences.