Chee Yong from Launceston and Susannah Curtis from Birralee are two of 40 finalists in the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture. More than 500 entrants are vying for the $50,000 the first prize winner will take home. 

Chee’s work is titled self-portrait As a Ghost. 

“It is an introspective study of my own psychological vicissitudes, a manifestation of self and anxieties,” she said. 

Curtis’ work, Lucah, is a portrait of a boy with down syndrome. 

“With the portrait I wanted to convey the snippets of his personality that he let me see without his disability of Down syndrome - the first impression the viewer might perceive,” she said. 

“His hat over his eyes talks about how people with a disability are often not seen in society and hinted at the world he keeps private both intentionally and unintentionally.”

The portraits will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of Western Australia from October 27 to November 26. Winners will be announced on November 2, with the People’s Choice winner announced on November 28.