The judge for this year's portrait exhibition will be Liz Gridley.

From an artistic interest in the consideration of emotion, Liz Gridley’s work centres on her experiences of states of hyper-emotion. Distress arises from overstimulation; feelings of overwhelm from external stimuli that cause a physical response in the body. Meditation or contemplative thought regulates this response and re-centres the body. Gridley’s work reflects these internal states represented in contemporary realist portraits that connect viscerally with the viewer. Gridley had her debut solo exhibition ‘Empathy, My Witness’ in 2018 at Off The Kerb Gallery following her Major Prize win at the Graeme Hildebrand Art Prize in 2017. She has been a Finalist in a number of awards including the Kennedy Art Prize, Rick Amor Self Portrait Prize, Cliftons Art Prize, the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize (USA), and the fortyfive downstairs Emerging Art Prize. Gridley has recently completed art residencies with Burrinja Cultural Centre, public art demonstrations, and mentored other emerging artists