Justice denied – and painted

Andrew L. Urban.

Striking intimate portraits in oil on canvas capturing faces of wrongfully convicted and those advocating for them, by Queensland artist Sky Parra, will be displayed in the DENIED exhibition at Salamanca Art Centre’s Social Gallery, (67 Salamanca Place, Hobart) in August – September this year. 

Stuart Tipple (Lindy Chamberlain’s lawyer) has kindly agreed to open the event. “These works bridge the gap created by misrepresentation to restore a sense of normality, humanity, and dignity,” Sky Parra states on her site. In her Denied catalogue, Sky has painted John Button, Scott Austic, Derek Bromley, Henry Keogh, Andrew Mallard, Lloyd Rayney and FAB (short for his nickname Fabulous) – see below. A portrait of Sue Neill-Fraser is in progress at time of writing.

According to her website, “Brisbane based Sky Parra, supported by metropolitan and regional communities and leading legal scholar Dr Robert Moles, depicts those wrongfully convicted of serious crimes across Australia and those that actively advocate for justice. Parra’s portraits are a poignant testimony of the existence of miscarriages of justice and are the outcome of careful research, in-depth study, and personal connections with the victims of wrongful conviction and their families. Together with existing legal advocacy, the Denied project brings new awareness and understanding to this nationally urgent issue.”

Sky Parra

Sky Parra’s practice “explores the humanising agency of portraiture.” Parra has exhibited across Australia in solo and group shows. In 2021, she was selected as a finalist in the Biennial Royal South Australian Society of Arts Portrait Prize in Adelaide; later that year she won the inaugural Behlau Murakami Grant Art Prize. In 2022, she was chosen for the AEL Summer Scholarship through the Creative Arts Research Institute, Griffith University, before completing a BFA at the Queensland College of Art and Design where she is currently undertaking her Honours research project, DENIED.