Subject

I have been a subject of many ...

Rosemary Valadon

Award-winning artist and Archibald prize finalist Rosemary Valadon's "Wicked Women" exhibited at the Justice and Police Museum, Sydney from 20 October 2013 to 28 April 2013. Charles, among a number of other iconic Australian figures (including Tara Moss, Rachel Ward, and World Queen of Burlesque Imogen Kelly), was a subject in this acclaimed series. According to Rosemary's website:

This series developed from Valadon’s term of artist-in-residence at the Sydney Justice & Police Museum commencing in 2009. Valadon became fascinated by the colourful, sexy and kitsch art of early to mid-20th-century pulp fiction and film noir. In Wicked Women she reimagines the idea of the ‘bad girl’, with contemporary women taking on the roles of the sinful sirens. The resulting 17 portraits capture the look of the original artworks but add a vibrant and playful element.

Each sitter – drawn from the entertainment, literary, legal and academic worlds, among others – chose a pulp fiction cover or poster and then replicated the pose of the wicked woman. Valadon then sketched, photographed and painted her portrait. In the process, she captured aspects of the sitter’s personality, subtly changing the intent of the original artwork – sexist becomes sexy.

Nigel Milsom

In 2015, the painter Nigel Milsom was awarded the coveted Archibald Prize with a fascinating and truly visionary portrait of Charles Waterstreet. Nigel describes his relationship with Charles and the creative process that won him the prize as follows:

‘I’ve known Charlie indirectly and directly since birth. I was born in Albury around the corner from the Waterstreet Hotel, owned and managed by his parents. On Friday afternoons, my father used to sell them freshly caught Murray cod to earn extra money for materials he needed to complete a boat he was building at home, which later sank to the bottom of the Murray River during its maiden voyage one freezing afternoon.

‘My relationship with Charlie took on more significance a few years ago when he represented me and in the pursuit of justice stood up to what seemed an unfair, impenetrable brick wall. He put his head on the chopping block and restored my faith in the legal system.

‘Charlie is a very complex person. He isn’t just a law man. He’s a writer, a social environmentalist and is involved in film, photography and theatre too. Despite personal struggles with his own demons over the years, he has managed to dedicate most of his time to the welfare of others. My portrait is an attempt to depict him as a giant: part-man, part-mythical creature with hands that appear otherworldly, as though the anatomy of his hands has been designed to grasp unnatural disasters, naturally.’